| Lili Marleen | |
| Director: | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Screenplay: | Rainer Werner Fassbinder Manfred Purzer Joshua Sinclair Werner Ushkurat |
| Based On: | The Heavens Have Many Colors by Lale Andersen |
| Starring: | Hanna Schygulla |
| Music: | Peer Raben |
| Runtime: | 120 minutes |
| Country: | West Germany |
| Language: | German |
Lili Marleen is a 1981 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder that stars Hanna Schygulla, Giancarlo Giannini, and Mel Ferrer.[1] Set in the time of the Third Reich, the film recounts the love affair between a German singer who becomes the darling of the nation, based on Lale Andersen, and a Swiss conductor, based on Rolf Liebermann, who is active in saving his fellow Jews. Though the screenplay uses the autobiographical novel Der Himmel hat viele Farben (The Heavens Have Many Colors) by Lale Andersen, her last husband, Arthur Beul, said the film bears little relation to her real life.
In Switzerland, an aspiring German singer called Willie is in love with Robert, a trainee conductor who is Jewish. His family are part of a network enabling Jews and their money to find safety in neutral Switzerland. Fearing that the network could be endangered by Robert's involvement with a German woman, his wealthy father has her deported.
Back in Germany, Willie comes under the protection of Henkel, a high Nazi official who advances her career. Her song “Lili Marleen” becomes the favourite of the armed forces, making her rich and famous. Under a false identity, Robert enters Germany to try and recruit her for the network. She loves him still, and obtains for him film showing the Nazi death camps in Poland. When he is caught by the Gestapo, she comes under suspicion but is cleared. Robert's father negotiates his return to Switzerland, where he is married to a suitable Jewish girl.
At the end of the war, Willie is able to get into Switzerland, where she is delighted to attend Robert's first concert, but there is no hope of renewing their romance.
Of the 23 theatrical films that Fassbinder directed, Lili Marleen was the only one that Germany submitted to the academy to be considered for a Best Foreign Language Film nomination. The film, while a German production, was one of the few that Fassbinder shot in English. Ultimately, the film was not nominated.[2]