The first Fassbinder film to garner broad praise in Germany, this film tableau, saturated with color, centers on a repugnant family based on Fassbinder’s own, with events plucked directly from his familial life. The director’s sympathies lie firmly with Hans, his protagonist, a spirit yearning for unattainable freedom amidst unexceptional people in a lonely city. "This is a melodrama," Fassbinder claimed. "That always sounds like a dirty word, but I don’t think it is. It’s a socially critical melodrama, to put it simply."