Warum Lauft Herr R. Amok? (Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?) (1970)

100% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
75% of users liked it
(896 ratings)

A technical designer enjoys a comfortable life with his wife and child. He has the approval of his boss and is in good health except for smoking too much according to his doctor. His wife is visited by a girlfriend one Sunday afternoon. The man is bored watching television and grabs a chandelier and… More A technical designer enjoys a comfortable life with his wife and child. He has the approval of his boss and is in good health except for smoking too much according to his doctor. His wife is visited by a girlfriend one Sunday afternoon. The man is bored watching television and grabs a chandelier and kills the conversing women and his child. In a chilling display of nonchalance, he contemplates his own death by hanging in this disturbing feature. This film was the fourth for director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 28 min.
Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Michael Fengler
Written By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Michael Fengler
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Nov 17, 1977 Wide
On DVD: May 30, 2006

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby, New York Times
A revealing demonstration of how the style of a Fassbinder film becomes its subject.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fassbinder navigates carefully between mockery and empathy, heightening the interior drama with his superior staging.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
provocative film that certainly isn't easy to forget%u2014as long as you patiently sit through its entirety
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Mysterious, mesmerizing.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A dark and bitter work that is difficult for some viewers and fascinating for others.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Works as caustic anti-theater theater.
Derek Smith, Cinematic Reflections
'Its condemnation of the acceptance of life as determined by societal convention is so strongly felt that the extremity of the finale is...as encouraging as it is disturbing.'