Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day

1h 40min

Comedy

Drama

Commissioned to make a working-class family drama for public television, up-and-coming director Rainer Werner Fassbinder took the assignment and ran, dodging expectations by depicting social realities in West Germany from a critical—yet far from cynical—perspective. Over the course of five episodes, the sprawling story tracks the everyday triumphs and travails of the young toolmaker Jochen and many of the people populating his world, including the woman he loves, his eccentric family, and his fellow workers, with whom he bands together to improve conditions on the factory floor.

Episodes

Cast

Jochen and Marion

1. Jochen and Marion

1h 47min

29th Oct 1972

A love affair blossoms between middle-class tool factory employee Jochen and office advertiser Marion.

Oma and Gregor

2. Oma and Gregor

1h 45min

27th Dec 1972

Jochen's grandmother Oma searches for an affordable apartment to share with Gregor, a gentleman she picked up in a park. When Oma comes across an abandoned library space, she and Gregor decide to become do-it-yourself squatters and turn it into a kindergarten.

Franz and Ernst

3. Franz and Ernst

1h 37min

21st Jan 1973

After the death of the foreman, the tool factory comrades hope that Franz will get promoted. However, tensions rise when the manager instead brings in an outsider.

Harald and Monika

4. Harald and Monika

1h 35min

18th Feb 1973

Following a visit from Marion's strict mother, Jochen is pressured into proposing. Meanwhile, growing strained relations between Monika and the overbearing Harald start Monika on thoughts of divorce.

Irmgard and Rolf

5. Irmgard and Rolf

1h 34min

18th Mar 1973

Upon discovering that the tool factory is being relocated, Jochen and Marion seek a new place while the workers list demands for their growing impatience.

First air date

29th Oct 1972

Last air date

18th Mar 1973

Status

Ended

Type

Miniseries

Original language

de

Networks