The Marriage of Maria Braun

The Marriage of Maria Braun
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by	Peter Märthesheimer Pea Fröhlich Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Produced by	Michael Fengler
Starring	Hanna Schygulla Klaus Löwitsch Ivan Desny Gisela Uhlen
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus
Edited by	Franz Walsch Juliane Lorenz
Music by	Peer Raben
Production companies	Albatros Filmproduktion Westdeutscher Rundfunk Trio Film
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	22 May 1978 (1978-05-22) (Cannes)[1] 20 February 1979 (1979-02-20) (Berlinale) 23 March 1979 (1979-03-23) (West Germany)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	West Germany
Languages	German English
Budget	1.975 million DM[2]
Box office	$5.6 million[3][4] $1.1 million (US/Canada)[5]

The Marriage of Maria Braun (German: Die Ehe der Maria Braun) is a 1978 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film stars Hanna Schygulla as Maria, whose marriage to the soldier Hermann remains unfulfilled due to World War II and his post-war imprisonment. Maria adapts to the realities of post-war Germany and becomes the wealthy mistress of an industrialist, all that while staying true to her love for Hermann.

The Marriage of Maria Braun was one of the more successful works of Fassbinder and shaped the image of the New German Cinema in foreign countries. It has also been acclaimed by many critics as one of Fassbinder’s most profound accomplishments.^[6] It is the first installment of Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy, followed by Lola (1981) and Veronika Voss (1982).