Effi Briest (also known as Fontane Effi Briest; original title: Fontane Effi Briest oder Viele, die eine Ahnung haben von ihren Möglichkeiten und Bedürfnissen und trotzdem das herrschende System in ihrem Kopf akzeptieren durch ihre Taten und es somit festigen und durchaus bestätigen, literally Fontane Effi Briest or Many people who are aware of their own capabilities and needs just acquiesce to the prevailing system in their thoughts and deeds, thereby confirming and reinforcing it) is a 1974 West German black-and-white historical drama film directed, written and narrated by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and produced by Juliane Lorenz. Fassbinder adapted the screenplay from German author Theodor Fontane's 1894 novel of the same name about a young 19th century woman whose affair with a charismatic womanizer has long-term effects on her marriage to an older man. The film uses Fontane's words in dialogue, narration and text of letters.
Plot
The film begins with Effi von Briest, aged 17, on the swing in her parents' garden. Her mother comments on her wild nature, saying that she has an aerial spirit. Talking with other teenage girls, they discuss how Effi's mother was courted by Baron von Instetten when he was a soldier but she chose Effi's father, a councillor and landowner.
Later, Effi's mother tells her that Instetten, now aged 38 and an official, has asked for her hand. With her parents' encouragement, along with her own desire for prestige, she accepts. Effi and her mother began to prepare for the honeymoon: although Effi does not want for most possessions, when she desires something only the best will do. Just before leaving, she admits to her mother that while Instetten is considerate, principled, and dashing, she is nonetheless frightened by him. Left alone, her parents discuss married life, during which Briest comments that his wife would have suited Instetten much better than Effi.
Effi and Instetten return to his home on the Baltic Sea in the fictional town of Kessin. They are greeted by the cold and distant housekeeper Johanna, who secretly loves her master and resents his new wife. Through her first night there, Effi is unable to sleep due to being frightened by what she thinks is a ghost. At dinner next day, she learns that they are the only nobles in the town and cannot socialise with its middle-class inhabitants. Instead, there are tedious exchanges of visits with nobles on surrounding estates. However, Effi does find a friend in the pharmacist Gieshübler, who loves music.
Instetten has to be away on duty one night, leaving Effi alone. Again she is unable to sleep, causing her to ask Johanna to keep her company through the night. Instetten reproaches her for this, as he does not want people discovering that his wife was afraid of ghosts, but neither does he relieve her fears.
Soon Effi becomes pregnant. While taking a walk one day, she meets a Catholic woman named Roswitha at the grave of her late employer. Seeing that she is a warm and open person, Effi asks her to become the nursemaid for her child. Eventually, Effi gives birth to a girl that they name Annie.
One day, Effi goes to the beach with Instetten and his friend, Major Crampas. Instetten believes Crampas to be a ladies' man, while Crampas describes Instetten as a born schoolteacher. Effi realizes that Instetten had been using the ghost she was frightened of to educate her, as well as a way to distinguish himself from ordinary men. Eventually, Instetten is unable to continue the excursions as his attention is required for a political campaign, leaving Crampas and Effi to continue alone. Soon, Effi is taking walks every day, to the point that even inclement weather cannot stop her.
After some years, Effi, Instetten, and Annie move to Berlin, where Instetten has gained a prominent position in a government ministry. Effi is glad of this, since she always found Kessin to be spooky. However, one day Instetten finds letters that Crampas had been writing to Effi. That the two had been lovers is obvious, but it is also clear that the affair ended some time ago. After going to his friend Wüllersdorf for advice, he commits himself to initiating a duel with Crampas, in which he shoots his rival dead.
He divorces Effi and gains custody over Annie, who he raises under the belief that she has no mother. Effi's parents refuse to let her come home, because of the scandal she has caused, so she moves into a small apartment in Berlin with the faithful Roswitha. A few years later, Annie is permitted a brief visit to Effi but the two are distant with each other. Effi is enraged with Instetten, blaming him for teaching her daughter to act like a stranger to her, and suffers a nervous collapse.