Satan’s Brew

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1976 German film follows a poet who has not written a line in two years. Walter Kranz believes himself a revolutionary; he uses women for money, exploits his family and finally begins, without knowing it, to write the poems of Stefan George. Fassbinder takes aim here at his own circle: the self-deceptions of the left intellectual, the falseness of the myth of the artist, and revolutionary rhetoric covering personal tyranny. The film is deliberately repellent; no character is likeable and the humour is merciless. Kurt Raab's performance carries that tone. It is among Fassbinder's least loved films, and that is a deliberate choice. Who it's for: viewers who like Fassbinder and black comedy. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a sympathetic character, or put off by sexual content and degrading dialogue.