[varu]

I Don't Just Want You to Love Me
Fassbinder's DOPs



Dietrich Lohmann

We wanted to be better, faster and also different from the others. That was our basic concept. "Faster than Godard" was important to Fassbinder. If Godard made three films a year, Rainer had to make four. He kept emphasizing: The critics shouldn't be able to keep up. I'll release a new film when they are still discussing the last one.

Xaver Schwarzenberger

There are things I can't do without. I have the feeling I learned the most from him. Let me pick up on one point: The system of shooting a scene only once, if possible, really fascinated me, and it still does. If, after rehearsals and discussions, everyone knows that, if possible, we only want to do one take, then their focus is quite different than usual. If everyone knows they can make mistakes, you'll do 10 or 20 takes. This was different. The attempt to get it done on the first take forces everyone to concentrate. I believe that was one of the most fascinating things I picked up from or with him. And I am trying to continue to do it in the same way. In my opinion, it's a clear-cut situation.

Michael Ballhaus

He taught me to be fast, precise, to mentally edit the film, to mentally create a scene's rhythm. Those are things I really profit from today. Rainer never felt it was necessary to make lots of preparations. Sometimes he sketched stick figures or an idea for a scene, but he usually wanted to be inspired by the moment and the situation. He didn't go to locations beforehand either. He said: Then I'd know what I want to do. I'd be bored. He needed tension. He needed the pressure of having to decide the same day he and the others arrived. One had to be flexible to be able to react.