Berlin Alexanderplatz [7 Discs] [Criterion Collection]

Sometimes seen as an analysis of what leads to Nazism, this compelling film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder portrays one man's tribulations. Franz (Gunter Lamprecht) kills his mistress while in a jealous rage, is sent to prison, and is released after serving his sentence. Panicked by the strange new Berlin, he finds shelter for awhile with a kind Jew, and later moves back to his old place. After some affairs, he meets a woman and tries to go straight, but he is betrayed, reverts to old habits, loses an arm because of the betrayal, ends up in prison again, and even the woman he loved is killed by the man who betrayed him. Only against these daunting odds does Franz become a candidate for Nazi propaganda.