''Eight Hours Don't Make a Day'' () (also translated as ''(Eight Hours Are Not a Day)'' is a West German television miniseries written and directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

. Commissioned by

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

, it was broadcast in five episodes between 1972 and 1973. The story follows a group of working-class people in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Episodes

Cast

;All episodes * Gottfried John as Jochen Epp * Hanna Schygulla as Marion Andreas * Luise Ulrich as Oma Krüger * Werner Finck as Gregor Mack * Irm Hermann as Irmgard Erlkönig * Wolfgang Schenck as Franz Miltenberger * Wolfgang Zerlett as Manfred Müller * Rudolf Waldemar Brem as Rolf Schwein * Grigorios Karipidis as Giuseppe Giuliano * Wolfried Lier as Wolf Epp * Hans Hirschmüller as Jürgen Graf * Renate Roland as Monika * Anita Bucher as Käthe Epp * Karl Scheydt as Arbeiter Peter * Rainer Hauer as Werkshallenleiter Volkmar Gross * Andrea Schober as Sylvia * Herb Andress as Rüdiger * Thorsten Massinger as Manni Andreas * Kurt Raab as Harald (4 episodes) * El Hedi ben Salem (''uncredited'') as Dunkelhäutiger Arbeiter (4 episodes) * Ruth Drexel as Frau Miltenberger (3 episodes) * Christine Oesterlein as Tante Klara (2 episodes) *

Brigitte Mira Brigitte Mira (, 20 April 1910 – 8 March 2005) was a German actress. She worked in both theater and film, and on many occasions, with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Believed to have been born in Hamburg, she moved when young to Berlin. Mira's moth ...

as Marions Mutter, Frau Andreas (1 episode) * Peter Gauhe as Ernst Friedrich (1 episode) * Victor Curland as Meister Fritz Kretzschmer (1 episode) *

Klaus Löwitsch Klaus Löwitsch (8 April 1936 – 3 December 2002) was a German actor, best known in Germany for his starring role in the television detective series '' Peter Strohm''. He appeared in several films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, begin ...

as Dr. Betram (1 episode) * Rudolf Lenz as Vermieter Mattes (1 episode) * Hans Gromball as Betrüger (1 episode) * Valeska Gert as Die andere Oma (1 episode) *

Margit Carstensen Margit Carstensen (29 February 1940 – 1 June 2023) was a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She appeared in films of directors Christoph Schlingensief ...

as Hausfrau (1 episode) *

Ulli Lommel Ulli Lommel (21 December 1944 – 2 December 2017) was a German Film actor, actor and Film director, director, noted for his many collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his association with the New German Cinema movement. Lommel spent ...

as Peter (1 episode) * Eva Mattes as Beschwippste Freundin (1 episode) * Lilo Pempeit as Hausfrau Müller (1 episode) * Heinz Meier as Beamter Meier (1 episode) * Ursula Strätz (''uncredited'') as Peters Frau (1 episode) * Peter Chatel as Mann in der Anzeigenannahme (1 episode)

Restoration

In December 2016, it was announced that the restored version would have its world premiere in the Berlinale Special section of the

67th Berlin International Film Festival The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as president of the jury. '' Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the ...

. In September 2017,

Arrow Films Arrow Films is a British independent film distributor and restorer specialising in world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films. As Arrow Video, it sells Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays and DVDs online; it also operates its own subscript ...

released this version in a limited edition dual-format

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

in the UK. The UK release runs at the original speed of 25

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

. In October 2018,

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...

released it on

and

in the USA, slowed to 24 frames per second.

References

External links

*
''Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day: The Utopia Channel''
an essay by Moira Weigel at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

1972 German television series debuts 1973 German television series endings Television shows set in North Rhine-Westphalia German-language television shows Das Erste original programming Grimme-Preis for fiction winners Rainer Werner Fassbinder Films scored by Fuzzy (composer) {{Germany-tv-prog-stub