In Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s French New Wave inspired directorial debut, he stars as Franz, a small-time pimp who finds himself in an offbeat love triangle between prostitute Joanna and handsome gangster Bruno, played by frequent Fassbinder collaborators Hanna Schygulle and Ulli Lommel. When Bruno fails to recruit Franz into his crime syndicate, the three strike up an unlikely allegiance, muddying romantic boundaries as they drift through the streets of Munich, plotting varying degrees of criminal activities. Detached, cool, and branded dilettantism at its Berlinale premiere, Love is Colder Than Death is a nihilistic and impulsive portrait of the relationship between three unanchored criminals. 

Love is Colder Than Death is featured as part of Gangsters Have Feelings Too, a season exploring the sensitive gangster film. The season is presented with the National Film and Television School’s Film Studies, Programming and Curation MA.