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Ali: Fear Eats The Soul AKA Angst Essen Seele Auf AKA Fear Eats The Soul
R2 - United Kingdom - Arrow Films Review written by and copyright: Sam Scott. (20th January 2007). |
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The Film
 Rainer Werner Fassbinder is well known as one of the most influential directors ever, not only in German cinema, but worldwide. He was a massive figure in the rise of 'new wave' German cinema, making a large array of films usually involving gay or lesbian characters (Fassbinder was himself gay), something that was still a taboo. In fact, so many believe it is thanks to him that this 'new wave' became successful that when Fassbinder committed suicide by taking a drugs overdose in 1982, many said it was the end of that cinematic era. This film is also one that bases itself on a taboo subject, this time inter-racial relationships and large age gaps between partners. Brigitte Mira plays Emmi Kurowski, alonely widow with three grown up children. One evening, she decides to enter a bar on her way home from work. A bar where she hears music from all the time but has never gone in. In this bar she meets Moroccan born El Hedi Ben Salem M'Barek Mohammed Mustapha (El Hedi Ben Salem) who everyone knows simply as Ali. As he asks her to dance, something clicks between the two and he ends up walking her back to her apartment and staying the night. As the romance blossoms, and they marry, so does the discrimination and hatred towards the pair as most of her friends and colleagues do not believe a German should communicate with foreigners, let alone marry one twenty years their junior. The story is a good one, and as the trials and tribulations of their irregular relationship continues amidst discrimination, you cannot help but start to feel for the characters. Bringing together a few of the Fassbinder regulars, my only real problem with the film was the quality of acting by both the primary and secondary cast which lets the film down. It isn't poor acting by any means but it is flaky at times. As an insight into German society during these post-war times, Fassbinder manages to make a scathing attack on his own people, but during the film, gets some of the characters to start accepting the relationship. Starting with the immortal line "Happiness is not always fun" before the opening credits, Fear Eats The Soul comes recommended, providing you can overlook the occasional flawed acting.
Video
Arrow Films have presented the film to us with a fullscreen 4:3 transfer which lacks clarity and occasionally suffers from washed out colours during scenes set outside Emmi's apartment block. Despite these flaws, the picture is quite adequate and a lot better than a VHS would render. The majority of the time, the colours are fine and grain is kept to a minimum. If I was to be honest, I would highly doubt a better print was available, though I'm sure today's technology could also clean the print up significantly.
Audio
Arrow have provided us with a German Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. Dialogue is clear throughout as is the music. With this being a dialogue driven film the track we are given is more than adequate though a small upmix to a surround track to benefit a couple of scenes would've been a nice addition. Optional English subtitles have also been provided and they are clear and easy to read at all times.
Extras
First extra presented on the disc is a Fassbinder In Hollywood featurette which shows us footage of the owner and several cast members of the "City Garage" theatre in Los Angeles. Intertwined with interviews from Wim Wenders, Ulli Lommel, Michael Ballhaus and Hanna Schygulla, this featurette also looks at how Fassbinder is perceived in America and whether he would have been successful there if he had not commited suicide by drugs overdose in 1982. Next up is a segment from a German television programme entitled Life Stories: A Conversation with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fassbinder is interviewed by Peter Jansen about many aspects of his personal and professional life including why he thinks, despite being successful, he is relatively unknown, how he interprets his life experiences into his films, what became of Hanna Schygulla and Irm Hermann and why he married Igrid Caven even though he was openly gay because they got along so well. As with the Marriage Of Maria Braun disc, Arrow have given us another short film, this time The City Tramp. In the short, a 'city' tramp finds a gun and goes about killing himself only to be interupted by various people along the way. Fassbinder plays a geezer in the toilets. We have also been given an interview with Todd Haynes, the director of Far From Heaven. He talks mainly about how melodrama is used in films but he also tell us how he feels about the political potential of Fassbinder had he not killed himself and decided to continue making films. We finish with a Theatrical Trailer and Booklet with notes by Julian Savage.
Overall
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