Movie

The Merchant of Four Seasons

1971 · 88 min

A quietly devastating character study that immerses you in a man's slow, self-aware unravelling with clinical detachment and deep sadness.

Overview: Hans is a street fruit peddler and born loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After recovering from a debilitating heart attack, his business finally begins to take off. However, the more he becomes a credit to his family, the more depressed he becomes.

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How it feels

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Tone: bleakstrength 3 of 3
melancholicstrength 3 of 3
darkstrength 2 of 3
cynicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: class
isolation
family
grief
betrayal
Places: big city
home
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: nonlinear
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	1
Horror	1
Humour	3
Realism	8
Romance	2
Tension	5
Darkness	8
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	8

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Details

Genres: drama
Directed by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Starring: Hans Hirschmüller, Irm Hermann, Hanna Schygulla, Andrea Schober, Karl Scheydt, Klaus Löwitsch, Gusti Kreissl, Ingrid Caven
Music: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cinematography: Dietrich Lohmann
Runtime: 88 min
Country: Germany
Languages: Arabic, German

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The Merchant of Four Seasons

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