User reviews

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's quietly powerful film is a sort-of remake of Douglas Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows," a film and director greatly admired by Fassbinder, but it has a sharper edge than Sirk's film. In "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul," the couple fighting a society's prejudice and resentment of their unconventional love must fight some of their own prejudices as well. In Sirk's film, the only thing imposing on the complete happiness of Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson was the busy-body ostracism of family and friends who didn't approve of the relationship between a rich society widow and her working-class gardener. In "Ali," Fassbinder suggests that happiness isn't something that's gained from the approval of others, but rather is the responsibility of the individuals involved. One of the things I liked best about this film is that as the German society gets used to the unconventional romance and begins to accept our two protagonists, the couple themselves begin to struggle to maintain a grip on the happiness they thought would be their's by right.

Fassbinder's unconventional couple are a frumpy German widow and a Moroccan immigrant 10-15 years younger than her. I gather from this film that Moroccans (or Arabs in general) were about as hated and feared in Germany at the time of this film's release as blacks were in America during the worst of the civil rights movement. So you can imagine how the couple's initial courting and subsequent marriage is handled by their neighbors, friends and family. Fassbinder himself was gay, and many suggest that the film is an allegory for the way homosexuals were persecuted. Fassbinder's private life undoubtedly informed his film, but the movie is really more universal than that. It really applies to anyone who's ever suffered the judgement of a group of people over something that didn't even affect those people, and really, who can honestly say that they've never been subjected to that?

Fassbinder directs in a low-key, unfussy style, yet he creates images and scenes that linger in the head long after the film is over. It's a lovely film, very well acted, scripted and directed. It's not exactly sad, because it argues that societies are able eventually to adapt to new things and accept things they originally rejected. But it's not exactly happy either, because it suggests that relationships don't necessarily become easier just because external obstacles are removed.

Grade: A

This powerful and gentle film tells the story of love and marriage of Emmi, a 60+ widowed German cleaning lady and Ali, a Moroccan immigrant mechanic who is more than 20 (I think close to 30) years her younger. Their affair and the decision to marry shocked everyone who knew Emmi: her grown children, her neighbors, coworkers (mostly, middle-aged widows as herself) and even the owner of a neighborhood grocery shop where she has been a loyal customer for years. The way clever and observant Fassbinder looks at their struggle to keep the relationship is deeply pessimistic - the couple could survive the obstacles that society would create for them. They can survive disapproval, misunderstanding and prejudice but at the very moment they think all problems are in the past, they find the emptiness inside and two lonely hearts together are even worse than one. The more I think of it the more I realize that "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul" is among the best, the most poignant, gentlest and heartbreaking descriptions of unavailability for happiness ever filmed. What makes the movie even more poignant is the fact that both Fassbinder and El Hedi ben Salem, the man whom Fassbinder loved and who played Ali committed suicide in the same year, Fassbinder - a few weeks after El Hedi. The film is also a love letter to El Hedi. In one of the film's most moving scene, Emmi looks at the man with whom she so suddenly and desperately fell in love with admiration, longing, and wise sadness while he dries himself after the shower. It is not only Emmi looks at Ali, it is Rainer looks with love and affection at the man he loved through the lenses of his camera.

First of all, this film has definitely the best (German) movie title ever. It loses much of its power when it's translated but in German it is absolutely fascinating.

On the other hand, Fassbinder's movies and especially this one are not untranslatable, which is positive. The story about a love (is it?) between two people of different age and origin is universal and, though set in a very xenophobe and intolerant Germany, should be understood by everybody all over the world. Fassbinder is a master in guiding his actors so they can they play naturally and believably without using a particular local accent or slang that is probably more realistic.

I do not completely agree with the film's utterly pessimistic view on practically all the characters in the movie; I think his portray of contemporary society is a little bit exaggerated (and it was even twenty-five years ago). However, I acknowledge that by means of exaggerating like this, Fassbinder makes his criticism clear and evokes a particularly bad feeling (of guilt?) in the viewer's belly. While the story is rather sad, it includes a lot of (sarcastic) side-swipes on society as it is.

Angst essen Seele auf (oh, this is a marvellous title!) is maybe a more silent version of Harold and Maude; more silent but not less interesting.

Munich, in the mid-70s: She enters the exotic bar because it's raining and maybe because she's a little curious what this place with that strange music is like. He asks her for a dance because his friends tell him to do so. He accompanies her home. He stays for the night. The fall in love. They marry.

All that sounds like your average Hollywood romance. But that's only half the story of 'Fear Eats the Soul'. Here's the other half: She, Emmi Kurowski, is a 60 year old, widowed cleaner, mother of three married children. He, Ali, is a black foreign worker from Morocco, 20 years younger than her, speaking a rather bad German (a more faithful translation of the German original title 'Angst essen Seele auf', a quote from Ali, would be 'Fear Eat Soul'). This film is not a cheesy romance, it is the story of two people who love each other and struggle with the rest of the world to be accepted.

But the people around them have problems. The neighbors are talking about them, Emmi's colleagues ignore her, the merchant refuses to serve them, and Emmi's children don't want to understand it - her son Bruno even destroys the TV set in his anger.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder is arguably the greatest German director ever, and with more than 40 films, TV series, TV films plus 16 theater plays he wrote, directed and often also (co-)starred in in a career that lasted only a mere 15 years, he is certainly one of the most efficient directors in film history. His best films are a criticism of German society after World War II by simple, but memorable stories with very well observed characters. And 'Fear Eats the Soul' displays Fassbinder's qualities best. In very simple shots (facial expressions, the use doors to stress the loneliness of his characters), he makes this films very emotional.

The film is sometimes described as naive. That's wrong. Maybe it is naive to believe that a 60 year old widow and a black 40 year old worker will fall in love. But the rest is as well-observed as a film can be: The fact that people's reactions change when they realize that it's easier to accept them and take advantage of them. That Emmi eagerly joins her colleagues as soon as they have found a new victim. That Ali goes to the waitress of his bar to get the two things Emmi can't give him - sex and his favorite dish.

And then the film has some amazing acting. But from the entire cast, Brigitte Mira as Emmi Kurowski stands out. Actually a comedic actress, she shines in this drama as a woman who struggles for acceptance. Her speech outside a restaurant, when all the waiters stare at them but don't serve them, is heartbreaking, her entire performance is unforgettable.

At first sight, 'Fear Eats the Soul' is a small, simple romantic film. But look closer and you'll see it is so much more, it is a comment on subliminal prejudices and selfishness. It shows what a film can do, even if its budget is tiny, if it only believes in the power of its story.

This is the film which made the greatest impression on me ever. As a young serviceman stationed in West Germany throughout the 1970's & 80's I used to watch a great deal of German Television, to try and understand the German people and their culture.

One night,wife and children asleep, I happened upon: "Ein Film von Rainer Werner Fassbinder"

What a revelation!! Suddenly here was a film which showed all human life in its most passionate, desperate, vital but delicate form.

It certainly made a great impression on me and even now, 26 years later, I can still see, feel and react to each thought, idea aand feeling that coursed through me at that time.

Truly a wonderful film and a genius of a director.

It helped me understand love.

Two lonely people connect with each other at a local bar in Munich, Germany. The bar is frequented by foreign workers, mostly Arabic, who come to socialize and escape from the rejection they feel as foreign workers. Inspired by the Douglas Sirk melodrama All That Heaven Allows, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul by German master Rainer Werner Fassbinder is a simple and direct statement of love between an older woman and a younger man and also a biting commentary on the mentality of prejudice and the state of German society during a period of economic resurgence.

Shot in a period of only fifteen days, Ali (El Hedi ben Salem) is a fortyish Moroccan auto mechanic who feels estranged from his culture amidst the condescension and hostility of German society. Emmi Kurowski (Brigette Mira), who is probably close to sixty, is a lonely cleaning lady who lost her husband many years ago and finds the outlets for companionship very limited. To escape from the rain, Emmi ducks into the bar where a few foreign workers gather as the jukebox plays haunting Arabic songs. On a dare, Ali asks Emmi to dance and the two become friends after he accompanies her to her home and stays overnight. Speaking in broken German, Ali's terse answers to her questions underscore his inability to fully blend into German society. As Ali says, "German Master. Arab Dog".

Emmi is a native German who once belonged to the Nazi Party but shrugs it off by asking "Wasn't everyone?" She is an innately good person but full of the contradictions of German society. They are drawn to each other out of a desperate need for love but as they see more of each other, they are subject to increasing hostility from nosy neighbors, co-workers, and members of Emmi's family. The resentment reflects not only ageism but also the reaction to foreign workers who in their view are usurping their jobs. In a classic scene, Emmi tells her children that she is going to marry and introduces Ali as they sit in stunned silence and disbelief staring at her until one of the sons kicks in the television set as the rest get up and leave.

Even after they are married, the hostility continues and the couple are subjected to condescending service in restaurants and neighbors telling the landlord's son about Emmi's "lodger" and calling the police to report a disturbance when friends gather to listen to music. In a powerful sequence, Ali and Emmi sit alone in a garden restaurant surrounded by empty yellow chairs and the restaurant staff stands transfixed, looking at them from the doorway. After Emmi breaks down in tears, they decide to go on a short vacation, hoping that things will turn around when they return. Surprisingly they do when hypocritical neighbors and family members suddenly discover that they are in need of assistance from the couple.

The fears have been implanted, however, and the newlyweds' deep-seated insecurities come to the surface despite a noticeable change in attitude from the people around them. Ali longs for his native food that Emmi cannot or will not cook and turns to the buxom owner of the local bar for sex and Couscous. After a brief separation, they return to the bar where they first met as the film takes an unexpected turn. Brigette Mira turns in a solid performance as the lonely old woman, giving her the strength of character to withstand all of life's rejections. El Hedi ben Salem is magnificent as the strong stoic African who is able to give of himself to a very different kind of partner. With limited dialogue, the camera-work enhances the feeling of isolation with wide shots that render the couple vulnerable to the stares of neighbors, family, waiters, and bar owners. A poignant, honest, and revealing work of art, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is an immediate addition to my list of favorite films.

A thought experiment. You put Mike Leigh and Spike Lee together and ask them to remake Harold and Maude with even fewer laughs and without much music. Sounds awful?

This movie is actually strangely compelling. It is minimal in so many ways - in particular the minimal use of language. I only have "get by on a visit with occasional reference to phrase book" German and even less Arabic, yet I could have managed this movie without subtitles. So little is actually said in words. Yet so much is said.

This movie seemed so relevant today - when the gossipy women worry about bombs and terrorism because "Ali" is an "Arab" (actually he is a Berber) you think about our society some 30 years on and despair a little. The scene when the frau tells her family that she has married "Ali" will stick with me for some time.

It's hard to explain why, but there is something really special about this movie and it is well worth seeing.

The world can be a really cruel place. In this work by Fassbinder, we see the racism and intolerance of German society toward a Moroccan man. A sixty year old woman begins a relationship with a much younger man and he ends up sharing her bed. Of course, the gentleness is no match for the ugliness that transpires as the neighbors and the landlord begin to see him as a pig. He is a gentle, trusting soul. She is old and alone. Her children have left her alone and she works each day as a cleaning lady. There is an oppressive weight on these people who are still suffering from the angst of post World War II Germany. This is an intense film and very believable. The acting is superb and that's what really makes it cook. The sad thing is that those who oppress are not worth the time of day, yet they are able to hold forth with their hatred and intolerance.

The original title of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1974 film "Fear Eats the Soul" is deliberately ungrammatical German: ANGST ESSEN SEELE AUF "Fear Eat Soul". That is due to one of the two protagonists we meet: Ali (El Hedi ben Salem) is a Moroccan immigrant working in Munich. He toils as a car repairman and has learned some very basic German, but he has been hindered from assimilating to German and fully learning the language by both lack of time and a German society that deliberately keep his kind at arm's length. But one night at a pub, he meets by chance Emmi (Brigitte Mira) a 60-something widow. They dance and Emmi falls in love with this tall, dark, and handsome stranger who makes her feel feelings again after so many years. Ali's own thoughts and motivations remain more mysterious, but he too seems to have been wracked with loneliness, and he recognizes in this woman two decades his senior a soulmate. The result is initially a very idiosyncratic romantic comedy.

Sadly, as an opening title of the film reads, "Happiness is not always happy". The flip side of this couple's burgeoning love is the suspicion, jealousy, fear, and hatred that Emmi and Ali encounter from the citizens around them. Emmi's neighbours gossip and disparage her for bringing "trash" into their block of flats; Emmi's adult children reject her new partner; and the local grocer refuses to serve Ali. The drama of the film is Emmi and Ali's attempts to weather this storm of social rejection and make their relationship work. Some small hope remains in a handful of Munich people who see nothing wrong with this couple.

The acting here is memorable. El Hedi ben Salem was not a professional actor. In fact, he was one of Fassbinder's lovers, the two met in a bathhouse in Paris. Yet El Hedi ben Salem's awkwardness on screen actually fits his role perfectly, because Ali is ill at ease and unsure of what to do in this foreign land he has immigrated to. Most of the strong acting demands are placed on Brigitte Mira, a veteran of German film and television for decades, and she pulls this off marvelously. So much poignant emotion of a woman ruing the racism of her peers, or alive with love again after years of solitude, are expressed purely through her eyes, which Fassbinder often emphasizes with long camera takes. Fassbinder himself appears as Emmi's son-in-law (married to Emmi's daughter played by Irm Hermann, a stalwart of this director's productions), and though he gets little screen time, Fassbinder's facial expressions and sardonic dialogue are delightful.

Yet, in spite of its curiously heartwarming romantic pairing and touching plot about two lovers against a cruel world, ANGST ESSEN SEELE AUF is not a perfect film. In the latter part of his film, Fassbinder seems uncertain of his point. In a bitter turn, he upends the romance we had become used to for a much more pessimistic view of human relationships where the original theme of racism and intolerance seems forgotten, or at least firmly pushed aside. He then ends the film at an arbitrary point, as if unable to come up with anything more conclusive.

Nonetheless, this is a classic film and worth seeing. One can also appreciate just how well Fassbinder anticipated here the cinema of Aki Kaurismäki with its characters who are "losers", the cold stares of onlookers, and the awkwardness of it all.

Although ostensibly an attack on prejudice in all its forms this movie is also a pessimistic comment on how Fassbinder saw all relationships as problematic. The couple in this survive society's disapproval and reach a point of co-existence with the world. At this point they are undone form within. Superb performances all round but particularly Briggite Mira as Emmi. Watch out for RWF as her repulsive son-in-law. A great film from a great director.

A touching, honest, and revealing great film from a great director. It's hard to explain why, but there is something really special about this movie and it is well worth seeing.

I'm going to limit my comment to one aspect of this brilliant movie: the acting. I think Ali: Fear Eats the Soul may be the single best-acted film in the history of cinema. It's a simple story told simply but the unique and realistic performances create an emotionally charged, unforgettable experience for the viewer. Ali is completely Ali. Emmi is completely Emmi. There is not a hint of artifice in either performance. The only other performance I can think of which is similar is Bjork's dazzling turn in Dancer in the Dark.

There is so much to discuss in Fassbinder's work but what always strikes me in his films is the performances. No director has ever produced a body of work with actors who act the way Fassbinder's actors do. And not always in the same way. Ali features completely natural acting. Despair features highly stylized acting - pure artifice to counter the pure guilelessness of Fear Eats the Soul. The American Soldier - well, you have to see that film to believe it, especially the ending. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant displays what might be identified as a "typical" Fassbinder type of performance with passive, languid characters merely posing - or rather posed by Fassbinder.

When we think of auteurs, we think of writer/directors but the actors and their performances are the tangible realization of that auteur's vision. Fassbinder knew how to manipulate this dimension of the medium of film as well or better than any other director.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is a film that intelligently blends social commentary with the lives of two individuals whose paths unexpectedly cross. Emmi Kurowski is an older widow who finds herself going through the motions of life without any meaningful relationships to share it with. To avoid a rain shower one afternoon she takes refuge inside a local bar and it's there where she meets Ali, a Morrocan mechanic who's much her junior. The two share a dance and their improbable relationship begins. What ensues is a union that sparks widespread aversion towards the couple and their resolve to overcome such animosity.

Fassbinder takes the cultural prejudice of a post war Germany and creates a film with universal appeal - one that is just as relevant in today's modern world as it was when it was made. He uses the central characters to depict the fears of not only themselves, but also of society in general. The pace he creates has a unique minimalistic quality and maintains an effortless flow throughout the entire film. Bridgette Mira's portrayal of the humble but enduring Emmi is outstanding and she anchors the film with great realism. A true understated classic of world cinema.

I watched this film as part of a university course and we had to watch this along with its original inspiration by Douglas Sirk. By comparison, this film has a very different style where it feels more serious and with big consequences. It is the opposite of cheesy in every way which may put off anyone looking for a traditional romance film.

In a chance encounter, a German widow meets a Moroccan man twenty years younger than her, and the two progress from talking to friendship to marriage, much to the consternation of those around them. Her neighbors, co-workers, the grocer, and her children all convey varying shades of the ugliness of racism - and we see it both before and after they know about her relationship. Some of it comes from the mouths of sweet looking little old ladies, others from people like her son-in-law, a blue collar worker who is bitter over having a Tunisian boss and who denigrates foreigners while sitting on his ass on a pretend sick day, bossing his wife around and drinking a beer.

It's easy to think of the film positively because of its message of the need for tolerance, especially given how relevant that continues to be. I mean the title alone, from the Arabic saying "Fear Eats the Soul," how apt is that at a time when fear is used for such ugly purposes against immigrants, right? But the film is more than that, giving us unflinching honesty and three dimensional characters. I liked how many of them evolve over the movie, and while it has a clear message, it's also not simplistic. The couple have their problems too, and aren't perfect.

There are some scenes where such mean things get said that it may put a lump in your throat, but I never felt like it was heavy-handed, when it would have been easy to slip into that trap. How ironic it was that the couple have a fancy lunch at the restaurant that Hitler used to frequent from 1929 to 1933, and it's an easy leap to think that some of the characters in the film would be the type to embrace fascism a generation prior. But when she has her friends examine his muscles as if he were some kind of animal, and when later his friends laugh at her age in the auto shop - these scenes are just as brutal. We're also reminded that there are other immigrants and people deemed to be outsiders in the form of her first husband (from Poland), and a new hire to the cleaning lady team (from Yugoslavia).

I loved both the character of the old widow and Brigitte Mira's performance. She is earnest, direct, and brave. She has seen a lot over her years; she was a Nazi party member when young, married an immigrant after the war, been left alone by her adult children, and slaved over her cleaning job without getting a raise. She's lonely but she's dignified, and knows the value of kindred souls. She is consistently true to her feelings, not worrying what others may think, and the relationship she has with this man (El Hedi ben Salem) is based on communication and kindness. Then scene where she holds his hands on a patio and suggests they go away together to escape the hatred around them (including the staff of the restaurant who stand stone-faced and glare at them from afar) is quite touching. I loved the way Fassbinder slowly panned back at the end of it, almost a wish that they could just be left alone in their little island of happiness.

This movie revolves around a sentimental and beautiful subject. The story is well written and the female lead has been chosen to perfection. She acts very well , doesn't over do it. Fear is visible in her face as the story goes on , also you can see the raw/shy love in her face.

However , the male lead gives a very poor performance showing little to no emotion. When he's sad , when he's happy , when he's in love , when he's enraged he just offers a blank face. Intentionally or unintentionally done , this lack of emotion somehow feeds the audience's alienation from the male lead and instead of caring about him and siding with him , you are made to believe how unusual a foreigner is, hence you would side with all the bad people as well. Probably a better Middle Eastern actor would side the viewer better with himself.

Altogether a movie that I enjoyed and a lead female that my hat's off to.

Actually the German characteristic seen usually as humorless and objective analysis of motivation is capable of great subtlety. It comes across as a blatant slap in the face subsequently revealed by introspective dialogue or camera work to consist of several layers of social commentary. In this film, the viewer is placed in an uncomfortable position of having to endure a kind of visceral commiseration with a totally absurd set of misfitted main characters while simultaneously working through his own emotional response to the true-to-life situations they encounter. In that it shows Fassbinder to be completely oblivious to sentimentality, the great bugbear of most German literary art.

The well-worn roadmap of twentieth-century German history is reflected in the dour but soft lines of aging actress Brigitte Mira's face as widow Emmi. Personal tragedy is implicit in her character, never suggesting, however, any need for condolence; rather, there is a sense of determination as profound as may be seen in any younger or more appealing heroine on task to make her life whole. That she embarks on a quixotic venture to do so is funny and sombre at the same time.

I think it is a mistake to rely solely on the notion that this is just another anti-racist, anti-bourgeois tract. It is as well a very sophisticated portrayal of all the dimensions of love in all its forms, very similar to the oft-cited precursor film "Harold and Maude." While not replete with any complex twists of plot, it is nevertheless a many-layered and engrossing slice of life that is accessible to a wide variety of viewers.

That is what excellent filmmaking is all about.

If I was told that this film was written by a twelve year old fresh out of his first social justice lecture I would not have been surprised. None of the characters in this film acted remotely human, and I'm not even referring to the racism portion. The two leads fall in and out of love the same way we did as kindergarteners, the chicks in the bar acted like the mean girls from a high school film and everyone else is just a mindless NPC that says or does racist things. The only redeemable quality is the cinematography but even that is only above average. The particular scene where her children rejects her decision unintentionally made me laugh out loud because of how the camera just panned across all their disgusted faces for a good 15 seconds without anyone saying a thing.

Overall, I'd much rather think of this as a straight comedy and parody of what some people think racism is. It would otherwise be rather depressing to know that the person who made this is one of the most critically acclaimed directors of his time.