Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Angst essen Seele auf) (1974)
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cinematographer: Jürgen Jürges
Run-Time: 94 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Film Stock: Color Negative by Eastman Kodak
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is a surprising love story between two very different people with extraordinarily different lives. The main protagonist Emmi, played by Brigitte Mira, is a cleaning lady who unexpectedly falls in love with Ali, played famously by El Hedi ben Salem, an African immigrant to Germany just years after the collapse of Nazism in Germany. The runtime of this film is only 94 minutes, but it creates an atmosphere and mood that can only by crafty cinema auteurs such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Emmi must face off against the social expectations of an elder widow as she begins to question her own relationship with Ali, a foreigner who is given lower social status than others. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is shot in color and conveys certain moods and feelings that can only be replicated in reading such imaginative prose, poetry, or by watching any number of Douglas Sirk films (Fassbinder’s idol). Rainer Werner Fassbinder is an excellent filmmaker with the talent to bring out emotions from actors that cannot be described, only felt and experienced personally.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder as a director has used his platform to focus his films on social problems and political commentary. This film is no exception to that routine style. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul focuses on the social and political relations between native Germans and foreigners, as well as analyzing age, race, and class difference in loving relationships. Ali as a foreign immigrant to Germany represents a lower-class status, as opposed to his love Emmi who, though a cleaning lady, still holds higher social status due to her being a native German. The social commentary of Fassbinder in this film isn’t just on how Ali and Emmi feel, but also on how those around them see their relationship to be some sort of fetishized or token materialist idea. Relationships are difficult no matter the people involved, but this one more so. This relationship relies on the idea of normal and abnormal, Emmi as normal by being German, Ali seen as abnormal by being African. Together their relationship becomes strained by internal uncertainty of external judgements. Ultimately, they realize their faults and make amends.
[Image: Werner Fassbinder, Rainer, director. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Criterion Collection, 1974].
I have always been interested in understanding other cultures, whether inside or outside of the United States. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is an excellent example of a culture that I would have been largely ignorant about if it had not been for this film. To see an insider’s look into German culture post-World War II is interesting to say the least, but to also be able to see into social and political tensions that hung around like a thick fog is even more insightful. I was not entirely shocked to see racist remarks and racial tension in this setting during my first viewing, but every subsequent viewing has irked me more and more. I find it appalling that at any point in time throughout human history that a superiority complex took place so extensively that certain humans were seen as lesser value. Fassbinder as a filmmaker has a certain power, not many other filmmakers have, to attack societal problems head-on while also creating a visually beautiful and entertaining work of art. Seeing this perspective of German culture is enlightening and effective at getting its point across and analyzing power relations between age, race, and class status.
[Image: Werner Fassbinder, Rainer, director. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Criterion Collection, 1974].
Though I cannot completely relate to Emmi and Ali’s relationship, I can still sympathize with them and wonder why relationships work and don’t work. I think that might be why I love this film so much; I want to know more about human understandings of each other. Ali is simple in his needs, whether it’s emotional or physical, and so is Emmi. But for some reason they don’t perfectly align with each other. These two characters are very different, yet they love and care for each other so much. This makes me reflect on myself and what I may be looking for or encounter. I often, in my daily motions, reflect on Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and how it crafts a loving relationship out of a chance encounter and how that encounter leads to an unbreakable love and care. I wonder how likely it is that storybook fairytale romances happen in reality and how I can learn from this story and build upon my own story. That is of course whether or not my story will turn out to be some sort of a fairytale romance. Maybe someday I hope to have what Emmi and Ali have.
[Image: Werner Fassbinder, Rainer, director. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Criterion Collection, 1974].
I greatly appreciate all the character development and depth that this film offers, but I believe my love for this film is rooted most deeply in the visual aesthetic. Rainer Werner Fassbinder takes most of his style from legendary Hollywood filmmaker Douglas Sirk, who was most well-known for his over the top, visually stunning melodramas. Color is one of, if not the most, important factors in melodrama. This is besides the storyline, which of course must be good for any story to be entertaining and engaging. I hope that in my own future of filmmaking that I will one day get the chance to shoot a film with a strong romantic plot focus that utilizes color to set moods and alert the viewers when to feel a certain way. I think the ultimate goal of a filmmaker is to elicit specific feelings from an audience, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder certainly does just that with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. The color schemes in this film are absolutely gorgeous and make me wish I could visit the world that is created in this 94-minute love story. Red gives off comfort, while yellow shows uncertainty, and blue and white feel homely but also distant. Overall this film is so beautiful because of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s style and his film knowledge allowing him to take creative control of any and all aspects of Emmi and Ali’s love and life.
[Image: Werner Fassbinder, Rainer, director. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Criterion Collection, 1974].
Finally, my favorite quote of the entire film:
Emmi Kurowski – “But when we’re together, we must be nice to each other. Otherwise, life’s not worth living.”
Commentaires