About

I Only Want You to Love Me takes its title from the mantra of its central character, but it could easily have served as a working title for any number of Fassbinder's films, or even a personal maxim throughout his life. The story of a hard-working bricklayer's forlorn quest for approval, the film was the last of Fassbinder's working-class melodramas. Peter (Vitus Zeplichal) offers a doglike devotion to his family, using his little earnings to lavish presents on his new wife and even building a house for his distant, indifferent parents. As the overwhelming weight of bourgeois materialism bears down on him, Peter becomes an explosive social casualty. Although the case study of a convicted murderer forms the basis for I Only Want You to Love Me, it is a nakedly personal film for Fassbinder, echoing his own strained relationship with his parents and his desperate need for affection.

Ages 15+

Ages 15+