This one is part of a trilogy (only determined a trilogy after the release of the third film and only thematically connected): The BRD (Bundesrepublik Deutschland, West Germany) Trilogy which consists of this film, Veronika Voss, and Lola. Maria Braun is a woman in West Germany whose husband is lost in the war (end of WWII) just a half a day and a night after they are married. Maria has to then do what she can to help her family (mother, grandfather, and a close friend) survive the post-war poverty. She ends up transforming from a loving, hopeful wife into something of a manipulative cold bitch.
The clothes (and their transformation as she changes) are interesting and the hair is amusing because it obviously shows not only a certain post-WWII historical accuracy but a pre-1980s accuracy. I think she may have made use of a banana clip more than once. And I totally pegged the director cameo without having seen a photo of him. :-)
Anyway, it's a bit of a heartbreaking love story about a woman thwarted at every turn and unable to be with the man she loves. But the means by which she manages to survive, thrive, and flourish as an independent woman complicate the matter, and she ends us thwarting herself as much as, if not more than, the outside circumstances have done the same. Her downfall is interesting in terms of her getting a dose of her own medicine. She's heartbroken by someone else using her own methods of survival and love. But, throughout, I thought she remained something of a sympathetic character.
It's a tad bit slow but worth a watch--the other two aren't on the list but I think I might watch those anyway (yes, I'm obviously OCD).
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