Angst essen Seele auf (1974)

Angst essen Seele auf: Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. With Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Irm Hermann, Elma Karlowa. A lonely widow meets a much younger Arab worker in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies.

“Munich, in the mid-70s: She enters the exotic bar because itu0026#39;s raining and maybe because sheu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll that sounds like your average Hollywood romance. But thatu0026#39;s only half the story of u0026#39;Fear Eats the Soulu0026#39;. Hereu0026#39;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 u0026#39;Angst essen Seele aufu0026#39;, a quote from Ali, would be u0026#39;Fear Eat Soulu0026#39;). 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut the people around them have problems. The neighbors are talking about them, Emmiu0026#39;s colleagues ignore her, the merchant refuses to serve them, and Emmiu0026#39;s children donu0026#39;t want to understand it – her son Bruno even destroys the TV set in his anger.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRainer 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 u0026#39;Fear Eats the Soulu0026#39; displays Fassbinderu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is sometimes described as naive. Thatu0026#39;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 peopleu0026#39;s reactions change when they realize that itu0026#39;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 canu0026#39;t give him – sex and his favorite dish.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd 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 donu0026#39;t serve them, is heartbreaking, her entire performance is unforgettable.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt first sight, u0026#39;Fear Eats the Soulu0026#39; is a small, simple romantic film. But look closer and youu0026#39;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.”