S01E01 The Punishment Begins
In 1928 Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released after serving four years in Tegel prison for killing his girlfriend Ida. After settling into his old apartment he visits Minna, Ida’s sister. Minna succumbs to his forceful...
Berlin Alexanderplatz
A FILM IN 13 PARTS & AN EPILOGUE
S01E14: My Dream of the Dream of Franz Biberkopf by Alfred Döblin, An Epilogue
In a fantasy sequence, Franz walks along a street of the dead with two angels. He finds Mieze, but she disappears from his arms. Reinhold is in prison for the crimes committed by a man whose identity he has acquired. He is anguished that his cellmate and lover is being released. Franz is taken to an asylum. Much of the rest of the episode takes place in his imagination. Franz’s being run over by the car is re-enacted with different characters taking on the roles of victim and driver. In a striking sequence, Franz and Mieze are treated like animals being slaughtered in an abattoir. On a nativity set Franz is raised on a cross as the other characters watch. An atom bomb goes off in the background and the angels clear the dead. The surreal imagery ceases suddenly and Franz is at Reinhold’s trial testifying to his good character. Reinhold is given ten years for manslaughter. Eva tells Franz she has lost the baby. The film concludes with Franz as an assistant gatekeeper at a factory. He is alert to his job but not to what is going on in the world as war is on the horizon.
Overview
In late 1920s Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released from prison and vows to go straight. However, he soon finds himself embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld.
Episodes
S01E02 How is One to Live if One Doesn’t Want to Die?
Franz employs himself by hocking tie holders on the street but has trouble making enough money. He is talked into selling the fascist newspaper Völkischer Beobachter and wearing a swastika armband. At Max’s bar, Franz...
S01E03 A Hammer Blow to the Head Can Injure the Soul
Lina is troubled by the shady nature of the jobs Franz is getting and has him meet a family friend, Otto Lüders, who has Franz join him selling shoelaces door-to-door. In one apartment, Franz encounters...
S01E04 A Handful of People in the Depths of Silence
Franz goes on an alcohol binge as a former medical orderly looks over him. He runs into Meck on the street one day. Meck had been living with Lina until she left him.
S01E05 A Reaper with the Power of Our Lord
Franz becomes re-acquainted with Eva, for whom he used to be a pimp and who feels a deep affection for him. At Max’s, Meck introduces Franz to Pums, the ringleader of an illegal enterprise. He...
S01E06 Love Has Its Price
Reinhold is desperate to get rid of his current woman, Trude, but Franz won’t take her and wants to stick with Cilly. Franz gets sucked into Pums’s gang when he is drafted for a job...
S01E07 Remember—An Oath can be Amputated
Franz has survived the car accident, but his right arm has been amputated. He recuperates for a time with Eva and Eva’s lover Herbert. Herbert agitates against Pums’s syndicate, so the boss decides to take...
S01E08 The Sun Warms the Skin, but Burns it Sometimes Too
Franz gets involved in an illegal enterprise with Willy, whom he met at a cabaret. Eva and Herbert drop by to see Franz and bring a young woman they offer as a new lover. Franz...
S01E09 About the Eternities Between the Many and the Few
Eva explain to Franz that Mieze just wants to work to support him as Franz cannot do so due to his missing arm. He reconciles with Mieze. Franz goes to Reinhold’s and tells him how...
S01E10 Loneliness Tears Cracks of Madness Even in Walls
As Mieze cannot have children, Eva tells her she will have a child with Franz that Mieze can then raise. Mieze is delighted. Eva also tells Mieze she’s concerned that Franz is concerting with Willy...
S01E11 Knowledge is Power and the Early Bird Catches the Worm
Franz goes to Reinhold and tells him he wants to get involved with Pums again. Reinhold still has his suspicions but Franz is allowed to assist the gang with a job. Mieze is upset that...
S01E12 The Serpent in the Soul of the Serpent
Franz introduces Mieze to Meck. Reinhold blackmails Meck to set up a meeting for him with Mieze. Meck takes Mieze on a drive to Freienwalde and delivers her to Reinhold. Reinhold takes her for a...
S01E13 The Outside and the Inside and the Secret of Fear of the Secret
Franz tells Eva that Mieze has left him. Eva reassures him, though she is a bit concerned herself. A robbery pulled off by Pums’s gang goes wrong and Meck burns himself with a welding torch....
S01E14 My Dream of the Dream of Franz Biberkopf by Alfred Döblin, An Epilogue
In a fantasy sequence, Franz walks along a street of the dead with two angels. He finds Mieze, but she disappears from his arms. Reinhold is in prison for the crimes committed by a man...
Cast
Günter Lamprecht
Franz Biberkopf
Hanna Schygulla
Eva
Barbara Sukowa
Mieze
Gottfried John
Reinhold Hoffmann
Ivan Desny
Pums
Barbara Valentin
Ida
Brigitte Mira
Frau Bast
Günther Kaufmann
Theo
Vitus Zeplichal
Rudi
Claus Holm
Wirt
Volker Spengler
Bruno
Elisabeth Trissenaar
Lina
