Ali: Fear Eats The Soul is prodigious German Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s take on the king of melodrama Douglas Sirk’s All that Heaven Allows. Shot on a shoestring in only 14 days and featuring Fassbinder’s then lover El Hedi Ben Salem in the title role as a 30 something Moroccan who falls for a sixty something German cleaning lady, it allowed Fassbinder to use Sirk’s basic template to explore his own preconceptions. Made in 1974, It’s not just about the generation gap anymore, rather he focuses on the racial issues as the couple experience considerable difficulty and downright hostility from those around them. It’s societies mechanisms of social control that concern both Sirk and Fassbinder, putting stress on the relationship and causing the couple to suppress their own needs to meet those around them. It’s not as hysterically melodramatic as Sirk’s material, rather Fassbinder turns his attention to the working class, creating a distinctively German story, keeping everything minimal and matter of fact. Their initial meeting is a prime example, she enters a bar to get out of the rain, there a local dares him to dance with her, he does, then offers to walk her home, once there she offers to let him stay because it’s too late for trains. It’s so strange, you almost don’ believe it and keep waiting for something bad to happen. It doesn’, they’re both honest, and lonely. The rest of the film continues in this vein, matter of fact, imbued with a confusing mix of idealism and cynicism that is never really really resolved. A fascinating film.
Extra Features:
Two essays on the film in a booklet, a great audio commentary from a La Trobe academic and an incisive interview with Todd Haynes who re worked the same film in Far From Heaven.
-Bob Baker Fish
