The film that elevated German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder from domestic approbation to international acclaim.

In Fassbinder’s most popular international success, Maria, an impoverished young German war widow (a radiant Hanna Shygulla) takes up with an American soldier, only for her lost husband to unexpectedly return with devastating consequences. Determined to rebuild her life, Maria’s journey to the top is a searing indictment of post-war Germany’s ‘economic miracle’.