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Rainer Werner Fassbinder embraces psychological melodrama in this blackly comedic domestic pressure cooker, laden with moral conflict and hypocrisy.
An affluent couple turns a blind eye to each other's adulterous liaisons, but find themselves confronted with their infidelities when their crippled daughter orchestrates a meeting of both sets of lovers at the family country retreat. As the ‘other woman', Karina acts as gel in an ensemble dynamic she deftly manipulates.The Chinese roulette of the title refers to the truth-telling game they play, which sees spite rise to the surface, eventually building to an explosive conclusion.
Also stars Margit Carstensen and Ulli Lommel, with a cameo by the popular nouvelle vague actress Macha Méril.
“The director's signature, ever-gliding camera takes on the metaphoric role of a pistol aiming randomly at its parasitic characters.” - Slant Magazine
--- D/S Rainer Werner Fassbinder P Michael Fengler, Barbet Schroeder WS Fassbinder Foundation L German w/English subtitles TD 35mm/1976