IN PRAISE OF IRM HERMANN

Irm Hermann

There’s something about Irm Hermann which makes her unforgettable. Though she played only small parts in the later works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, her appearance is always striking. And there is something comedic about her. It is as if she can turn any scene into a comedy just by her appearance. It’s very difficult to compare Hermann to other actresses in order to tell anyone unfamiliar with her to get the picture of her particular appeal. There’s only one actress I can think of who might have the same kind of appeal, though their looks are very different. It’s Rossy de Palma. And it is because de Palma has a face so unique, has a comedic quality within her, and can manage to be unforgettable though she has only the supporting roles in Kika (Pedro Almodovar, 1993), in which she plays the sister of a rapist, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Pedro Almodovar, 1989), in which she did some horrible thing to Antonio Banderas, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, in which she loses her virginity by a dream.

Though Hermann is the leading lady in Katzelmacher (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1969), in which she is believable as a rich, snobbish, and arrogant woman, and has an important role in The Merchant of Four Seasons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972), the film which best captures her appeal is The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972), in which she plays an assistant to Margit Carstensen. The image of her in this film is indelible: an image of a woman who is in total submission as if she is emotionally masochist. Hermann rarely utters a word in this film, but her presence on the screen is so strong that she successfully steals the scene from Carstensen and Hanna Schygulla. And if you think her role as Marlene in this film can be plainly described as ‘a submissive woman’, just wait until the ending of the film.

Why do I write about Irm Hermann, instead of Schygulla or Carstensen, who are as talented as Hermann and have much more important roles in Fassbinder’s works? It is because I can relate to Hermann, and I like her appeal which is relatively down-to-earth compared to Schygulla and Carstensen. Schygulla’s roles are too beautiful, glamorous, and cold-hearted to relate to, while Carstensen’s roles are too strong and cruel. An actress who has a glamorous or strong personality is easier to be found than an actress who has a unique personality as Hermann. An actress with a particular appeal like Irm Hermann or Brigitte Mira seems to be found only in the New German Cinema.

While you can say Hermann owed a lot to Fassbinder for giving her the kinds of roles she could have never found anywhere else, anyone who reads a biography of Fassbinder knows that Fassbinder also owed a lot to Hermann. Because without the help of Hermann, Fassbinder might not have had a chance to start his career. Irm Hermann, bot in front of and behind the camera, is the real unsung heroine of the New German Cinema.