At 35, German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder has already made 40 movies, an astonishing output. The Marriage of Maria Braun, released in the U.S. two years ago, was one of his best. This one, with a similar story line involving a young woman caught in the maelstrom of Nazi Germany, is a weak imitation at best. Hanna Schygulla again stars, portraying a cabaret singer whose song, the movie's title, catches on with the German troops. But before the war Schygulla had an affair with a Swiss Jew, and when he turns up in Berlin, trouble begins. Schygulla is coolly elegant, and Fassbinder's beer hall scenes are hypnotically atmospheric. But as her lovesick paramour, Giancarlo Giannini, the hero of such Lina Wertmuller films as Seven Beauties, is subdued, almost a cipher. Fassbinder himself seems unable to settle on one story, choosing instead to tell bits and pieces of various lives. Fassbinder at half speed is still good, but this film, in German with English subtitles, is still a disappointment. (R)
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