Sheer Madness

Synopsis

Olga and Ruth become friends. Olga is independent, separated from her husband, living with an immigrant pianist, and teaching feminist literature. Ruth is withdrawn, a painter, possibly mentally ill. Ruth dreams in black and white, sometimes of her suicide. Olga lectures on a 19th-century writer, von Günderrode, a suicide after the breakup of her intense friendship with Bettina Brentano. Ruth's husband Franz encourages the women's friendship, then, as Olga draws Ruth out and the friendship deepens, he becomes jealous. After the women travel to Egypt, Franz has a tirade. Ruth seems crushed between her husband and her friend, and how she responds is the film's climax.

Main Cast

Hanna Schygulla

Olga

Age : 80 | Popularity : 13%

Angela Winkler

Ruth

Age : 80 | Popularity : 14%

Peter Striebeck

Franz

Age : 86 | Popularity : 3%

Christine Fersen

Erika

Age : N/A | Popularity : 6%

Franz Buchrieser

Dieter

Age : 86 | Popularity : 9%

Wladimir Yordanoff

Alexaj

Age : 66 | Popularity : 7%

Agnes Fink

Ruth's mother

Age : 74 | Popularity : 3%

Felix Moeller

Christof

Age : 69 | Popularity : 3%

Crew

Department	Role	Name
Camera	Director of Photography	Michael Ballhaus
Production	Producer	Margaret Ménégoz Eberhard Junkersdorf
Art	Set Decoration	Jürgen Henze Werner Mink
Directing	Director	Margarethe von Trotta
Writing	Writer	Margarethe von Trotta
Editing	Editor	Dagmar Hirtz
Sound	Original Music Composer	Nicolas Economou
Costume & Make-Up	Costume Design	Monika Hasse
Department	Role	Name

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