Sheer Madness
1983 · 105 MIN · IMDB 6.6 · 318 VOTES · DIR. Margarethe von Trotta
Overview
Olga and Ruth become friends. Olga is independent, separated from her husband, living with an immigrant pianist, and teaching feminist literature. Ruth is withdrawn, a painter, possibly mentally ill. Ruth dreams in black and white, sometimes of her suicide. Olga lectures on a 19th-century writer, von Günderrode, a suicide after the breakup of her intense friendship with Bettina Brentano. Ruth's husband Franz encourages the women's friendship, then, as Olga draws Ruth out and the friendship deepens, he becomes jealous. After the women travel to Egypt, Franz has a tirade. Ruth seems crushed between her husband and her friend, and how she responds is the film's climax.
Dialogue Timeline — 797 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:01 SHEER MADNESS
00:04:06 - Is your house very full? - It's a bit like a youth hostel.
00:08:51 Some haven't been excavated yet; we clambered around them.
00:11:01 Are you sure?
00:16:14 Rahel Varnhagen
00:20:31 She has only passing acquaintances.
00:24:23 Such a nose is like the tower of Lebanon that points towards Damascus.
00:27:41 of peaceful understanding and international co-operation...
00:31:54 Will you come with me?
00:35:42 Maybe I'll have to call it off.
00:38:29 Especially with my son.
00:42:16 I'm sorry.
00:46:16 You'd just bring the next man into the flat.
00:50:53 I don't believe it. That would mean he'd like to see you unhappy.
00:54:20 But you know me if I want something.
00:58:40 Come here, my love.
01:03:33 Why did you give it up?
01:09:20 Why do you have so much to talk about?
01:14:14 You think everything is heaven-sent.
01:20:50 You all speak German and you've studied the subject.
01:23:59 You must drink all of it.
01:29:49 They're in our case.
01:31:47 You or I?
01:35:40 During the flight I kept trying to explain to her, but she's like a stone.