Lili Marleen (film) Lili Marleen (film) Lili Marleen is a 1981 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Hanna Schygulla. The screenplay was produced using the autobiographical novel "Der Himmel hat viele Farben" ("The Heavens Have Many Colors") by Lale Andersen. However, according to Lale Andersen's last husband, Arthur Beul, the film's plot bore little relation to her real life. The film is set during the Third Reich and is about the forbidden love between the German singer Willie (Hanna Schygulla) and the Swiss Jewish composer Robert Mendelssohn (a character based on Rolf Liebermann), who actively seeks to help
The Marriage of Maria Braun Festival. The West German theatrical release was on 23 March 1979. At the Berlin International Film Festival Hanna Schygulla won the Silver Bear for Best Actress, which did not satisfy Fassbinder who expected to win the Golden Bear. German film critics responded very positively to the film and praised the film's combination of artistic values with mass appeal. In the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit" Hans-Christoph Blumenberg called the film "the most accessible (and thus most commercial) and mature work of the director". Karena Niehoff wrote in the daily newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" that "The Marriage of Maria Braun" "is a charming