Lola
A morally upright building commissioner becomes entangled with a cabaret singer and the corrupt capitalist network powering West Germany’s postwar boom.
Overview
A tale of ambition and deception in a post-war society where love and corruption intertwine.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- theatrical
- witty
- seductive
- arthouse film night
- film studies viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praise Fassbinder's self-conscious performances, political acuity, and incisive critique of postwar West German hypocrisy and capitalism.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lola's public performance, the bordello setting, and the characters' deliberate role-playing turn social corruption into an explicitly performative spectacle.
The booming West German market economy is linked directly to Schuckert's corrupt building profits and the compromises surrounding von Bohm's projects.
Lola's relationships with von Bohm and Schuckert intertwine erotic power, prostitution, property, and financial influence.
Fassbinder's heightened visual presentation and theatrical spaces emphasize the contrast between public respectability and private vice.
Films like Lola, and why
The Marriage of Maria Braun
political corruption, sexual hypocrisy, and morally compromised social worlds rendered through stylized drama
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
postwar German social critique, theatrical melodrama, and Fassbinder's examination of capitalism and personal power
The Blue Angel
stylized social satire centered on prostitution, desire, and a corrupt bourgeois order
The Rules of the Game
ensemble hypocrisy, class manipulation, and morally theatrical social comedy in the vein of Renoir
Movie Details
- Director
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- Release Date
- 1981-08-20
- Runtime
- 113 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (144)
Cast
- Barbara Sukowa
- Armin Mueller-Stahl
- Mario Adorf
- Matthias Fuchs
- Helga Feddersen
- Karin Baal
- Ivan Desny
- Elisabeth Volkmann
- Hark Bohm
- Karl-Heinz von Hassel
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Lola about?
- A morally upright building commissioner becomes entangled with a cabaret singer and the corrupt capitalist network powering West Germany’s postwar boom.
- What is Lola like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Lola as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Lola violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Lola as mild.
- What did critics think of Lola?
- Critics broadly praise Fassbinder's self-conscious performances, political acuity, and incisive critique of postwar West German hypocrisy and capitalism.
- Which films are like Lola?
- Films with a similar feel include The Marriage of Maria Braun, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The Blue Angel, and The Rules of the Game.
- How long is Lola?
- Lola runs 113 minutes.
- Where can I watch Lola?
- In United States, Lola streams on Criterion Channel.
