S01E01 Jochen and Marion
A love affair blossoms between middle-class tool factory employee Jochen and office advertiser Marion.
Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day
A Family Series
Overview
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
S01E02 Oma and Gregor
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...
S01E03 Franz and Ernst
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.
S01E04 Harald and Monika
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.
S01E05 Irmgard and Rolf
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.
Cast
Gottfried John
Jochen Epp
Hanna Schygulla
Marion Andreas
Luise Ullrich
Grandma
Werner Finck
Gregor
Wolfried Lier
Wolf
Irm Hermann
Irmgard Erlkönig
Kurt Raab
Harald
Wolfgang Schenck
Franz Miltenberger
Wolfgang Zerlett
Manfred Müller
Herb Andress
Rüdiger
Rudolf Waldemar Brem
Rolf Schwein
Anita Bucher
Käthe Epp
