The Third Generation - 1979 - 3 Stars

Actors:  Hanna Schygulla, Udo Kier
Director:  Rainer Werner Fassbinder

This is a film where one is definitely better served knowing what it's about before going in.  I, on the other hand, did not know.  Concerning a group of West German revolutionaries, unclear what they're fighting against, my perception of the film was totally changed when I read it described as a 'black comedy' on Wikipedia.  'Ohhh, I get it!', I said.  Satire doesn't always come across in foreign languages, especially satirizing an attitude that I could see the filmmaker agreeing with (and maybe he does).  Perhaps I should've picked up on the fact that the film is in six parts and each part begins with an epigram supposedly lifted from a bathroom stall.

The film is visually interesting - Fassbinder loves his camera movements - and it's also full of ideas, name-dropping philosophers galore, but the characters are mere playthings and the plot is a shambles.  This film was likely revolutionary in 1980, but the central idea of the film is so central to the way we now live that we take it for granted.