Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Romance is a world of darkness, punctuated by only the rarest points of light...stars in the night sky. If you're lucky, your star meets another and you fall in love. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is a romance and a drama about race relations. Due to the rain, an older woman named Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira) stops in a bar frequented predominantly by Arabs, including a Morrocan who goes by the name of "Ali" (El Hedi ben Salem), because his actual name is too complex for most people to remember. The bartender, a sour (if attractive) woman named Barbara (Barbara Valentin), teases Ali to go dance with Emmi--an act which sets the stage for a complicated love affair to follow.
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Like other films written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul has a frankness and honesty to it that only comes from a creator in total creative control, unconcerned with appeasing producers (he also produced the film) or the shallow influence from massive studios. One of the pillars of the German New Wave cinema movement of the Seventies (alongside Herzog, Wenders, and more), Fassbinder's light burned too bright, and he died young. But in that time, he made many films with a great deal of heart, with much to say about life in Germany and about its culture, tearing away social artifice with every frame. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul depicts a city in Western Germany after the Munich Massacre of 1972, which is notable to the story for being carried out by Palestinian terrorists. This is something that Ali brings up as he and Emmi get to know one another. He is painfully aware of being exploited and mistreated by Germans; he compares himself to a "dog" in the eyes of his German bosses. You can see through subtle moments how racism remains a thorn in the proverbial side of German society in this era. Even thirty years later, when Emmi tells Ali that her last name is due to her late husband being Polish, and that they were both a part of the Nazi party--because everyone was, as she puts it--there isn't so much a sense of shame as there is a "matter of fact" quality to her memories of this distasteful part of her nation's history. Emmi isn't a racist; rather, in this film, she is about the farthest thing from it, desiring a relationship with Ali and making earnest attempts to be accepting of him and his friends. But as the film progresses, under the weight of open hostility from her neighbors, her grown children, and even the local green grocer, things start to shift. After the honeymoon phase, and after her neighbors seem to see Ali as a useful addition to their apartment complex (instead of just using him as an excuse to exclude and demean Emmi), the passion subsides. Ali asks Emmi to make him couscous, and she insists that he get used to German food instead. No longer does she make an effort to embrace his heritage; she takes it for granted. The resentful Ali turns to Barbara for comfort, his infidelity ironically reinforcing a stereotype Emmi's coworkers brought up about Arabs earlier in the film. The lingering question of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul thus becomes whether Emmi and Ali truly love one another, or if their lonely hearts are just so hungry for understanding and affection that anyone who will comfort them will do.
It's surprising to watch Ali: Fear Eats the Soul today and compare it with how movies nowadays address racism. It seems more common now that big studios are, in fact, more concerned with virtue signaling and exaggerating racism for the benefit of entertainment, rather than depict it in a convincing or realistic way. Too often these productions feel artificial and insultingly juvenile and simplistic; compare this with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. I doubt that everyone in West Germany was a racist, but virtually everyone in Emmi's blue collar circle is, and bitterly so. This movie was by no means the first movie to deal with racism, not at all. In fact, it borrows extensively from Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows, including a scene where Emmi's son kicks in her television after she reveals that she and Ali have been married. Much of Emmi's coworkers, neighbors, and family are revealed to be small-minded and ignorant. Yet their gossip and slander are generally shared mostly amongst themselves, within their own "echo chambers" or the family unit. This gives the audience a way to understand how these hurtful worldviews find fertile soil to fester within these environments. For so much of the film, Emmi and Ali share a romance which is charming, sweet, and honest. Theirs is not one built on burning passion, but an intense need to feel loved. It began with a simple dance, then an offer by Ali to escort Emmi home in the rain...then her offer for him to come inside for coffee and cognac while the rain continued...then to stay over due to the lateness of the hour. There isn't even any kind of love scene; they awake in bed together, and it is clear that they have consummated their love. Although there is shock on Emmi's face, it's more likely that this comes from a rekindling of passion within her, rather than the realization that Ali is an Arab. However, there is also the shadow of a paradox in their romance. Does she initially embrace Ali's native culture because she truly likes it, or is it for the benefit of feeling included by someone, anyone? Ali had just turned away a woman at the bar for sex before meeting Emmi, who--like Barbara--barely conceals a deeper bitterness within. In fact, almost everyone but Emmi and Ali seem filled with anger or resentment, something that appears to be poisoning them. I believe that this is where the envy and hatred that has developed into racism has found root in and around Emmi's circle. It's sad, because this hurt only spreads to others, even if just by degrees. Emmi bears the weight of their cruelty until it becomes overwhelming, and she isn't even the one being directly discriminated against. And Ali's suffering comes from alienation, so when Emmi (even if unconsciously) alienates him, things start to fall apart. The fear that there is no true goodness, that there is only the briefest of flashes of kindness before the rest of the rotten world seeps in to crush that gentle flower of generosity is what eats away at the soul. This is intimated to be the reason for Ali's stomach ulcer at the end. To stand stalwart against the rushing tides of hatred, that takes the patience of a saint...and precious few are saints, just everyday people struggling to survive. To live, to love, and enjoy these precious moments together.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling drama and romance that deals with racism and hatred in a frank and meaningful way, avoiding the pitfalls that many movies and TV shows fall prey to today by turning it into just another act of pandering. Fassbinder's films always feel earnest and authentic--no time for falsity when making a movie in just two weeks, I suppose--and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is no exception. But more than that, it is a love story, and a convincing one, even if it remains a sad one.
It's surprising to watch Ali: Fear Eats the Soul today and compare it with how movies nowadays address racism. It seems more common now that big studios are, in fact, more concerned with virtue signaling and exaggerating racism for the benefit of entertainment, rather than depict it in a convincing or realistic way. Too often these productions feel artificial and insultingly juvenile and simplistic; compare this with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. I doubt that everyone in West Germany was a racist, but virtually everyone in Emmi's blue collar circle is, and bitterly so. This movie was by no means the first movie to deal with racism, not at all. In fact, it borrows extensively from Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows, including a scene where Emmi's son kicks in her television after she reveals that she and Ali have been married. Much of Emmi's coworkers, neighbors, and family are revealed to be small-minded and ignorant. Yet their gossip and slander are generally shared mostly amongst themselves, within their own "echo chambers" or the family unit. This gives the audience a way to understand how these hurtful worldviews find fertile soil to fester within these environments. For so much of the film, Emmi and Ali share a romance which is charming, sweet, and honest. Theirs is not one built on burning passion, but an intense need to feel loved. It began with a simple dance, then an offer by Ali to escort Emmi home in the rain...then her offer for him to come inside for coffee and cognac while the rain continued...then to stay over due to the lateness of the hour. There isn't even any kind of love scene; they awake in bed together, and it is clear that they have consummated their love. Although there is shock on Emmi's face, it's more likely that this comes from a rekindling of passion within her, rather than the realization that Ali is an Arab. However, there is also the shadow of a paradox in their romance. Does she initially embrace Ali's native culture because she truly likes it, or is it for the benefit of feeling included by someone, anyone? Ali had just turned away a woman at the bar for sex before meeting Emmi, who--like Barbara--barely conceals a deeper bitterness within. In fact, almost everyone but Emmi and Ali seem filled with anger or resentment, something that appears to be poisoning them. I believe that this is where the envy and hatred that has developed into racism has found root in and around Emmi's circle. It's sad, because this hurt only spreads to others, even if just by degrees. Emmi bears the weight of their cruelty until it becomes overwhelming, and she isn't even the one being directly discriminated against. And Ali's suffering comes from alienation, so when Emmi (even if unconsciously) alienates him, things start to fall apart. The fear that there is no true goodness, that there is only the briefest of flashes of kindness before the rest of the rotten world seeps in to crush that gentle flower of generosity is what eats away at the soul. This is intimated to be the reason for Ali's stomach ulcer at the end. To stand stalwart against the rushing tides of hatred, that takes the patience of a saint...and precious few are saints, just everyday people struggling to survive. To live, to love, and enjoy these precious moments together.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling drama and romance that deals with racism and hatred in a frank and meaningful way, avoiding the pitfalls that many movies and TV shows fall prey to today by turning it into just another act of pandering. Fassbinder's films always feel earnest and authentic--no time for falsity when making a movie in just two weeks, I suppose--and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is no exception. But more than that, it is a love story, and a convincing one, even if it remains a sad one.