Ken Russell’s The Devils isn’t the only rare controversial piece of film that is getting a re-release this year.
Metrograph Press has just announced that, beginning Friday, August 28, Der Fan, West German provocateur Eckhart Schmidt’s previously hard-to-see feature, opens for an exclusive one-week NY theatrical screening in-theater at the Metrograph. It will be screened in a new 4K restoration. The restoration in 4K is sourced from its original 35mm camera negative by Fun City Editions. The film is set to be presented with its original stereo soundtrack for the first time since its initial German theatrical release back in 1982.
The official synopsis reads,
“Teen runaway Simone (Désirée Nosbusch, entrancingly opaque) loves the Neue Deutsche Welle pop singer known only as “R” (Bodo Staiger)… loves him so much, in fact, that she could just about eat him alive. And when she finally meets her idol—only to be callously treated by him as a disposable sex object—well, Simone gets the chance to really become one with her beloved forever. A hard, cool-to-the-touch, and utterly riveting slow-burn psychological thriller that, newly restored for its first ever US theatrical release, speaks to our age of parasocial obsession, featuring a sinister synth-pop soundtrack by Staiger’s own band, Rheingold, and a last act that’s finger-lickin’ good.”
Melissa Anderson of 4Columns states, “Der Fan fascinates with its icy elegance and dilatory sense of time.” Stephanie Monohan of Screen Slate also said, “It’s the final third act that makes Der Fan notorious, but it’s the slow-burn of what precedes that makes it truly effective horror.” Imran Khan of PopMatters says, “Nosbusch’s brave, subtle, and perspicacious performance […] not only saves the film from the grindhouse floor, but elevates it to a perspective of insight and understanding.”
Filmmaker Jacqueline Castel will be present at the opening night screening to give an introduction to the film. According to the press release, “Accompanying the run of Der Fan, presents That Most Taboo of Red Meats, a series of films about women cannibals, running August 21 to August 30. Titles include House, In My Skin, Jennifer’s Body, Raw, and Spider Baby.”