The Merchant of Four Seasons

One of Fassbinder's early films. Hans sells fruit in the street. He goes round the neighbourhoods with a handcart, shouting. His family finds the work shameful; his mother never approved of him and his sisters look down on him. There are other things in Hans's past: he served in the foreign legion, became a policeman and was dismissed over an incident. The woman he loved did not marry him. His relationship with his present wife is bad too. He has a heart attack and is forbidden to push the cart. He hires people to run the business, and it grows unexpectedly. But recovering makes him feel worse. What the film is interested in is how a man is slowly finished off by the people around him. Nobody harms him directly; nobody takes him seriously either. The form carries it: the scenes are distant, the camera rarely comes close, and the characters often stand at the edge of the frame. Hans Hirschmüller plays Hans. Irm Hermann and Hanna Schygulla are in the cast. Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed; it is often said he found his style with this film. A strong example for anyone who likes European cinema and hard character studies. For a viewer looking for hope, the film goes downwards to the end.