597. Faustrecht der Freiheit

Faustrecht der Freiheit
Fox and his Friends
1975
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Once again, Fassbinder gives me a movie that leaves me brooding for days.  I have been told that I have cynical views when it comes to romance, but I am nothing next to this director.  He is truly a buzzkill.  Maybe I will watch this again next Valentine's Day.

Franz works as a carnival attraction ("Fox the Talking Head") but loses his job when his boyfriend/boss is arrested.  Franz's troubles are seemingly at an end when he wins the lottery and is introduced to a posher world.  He falls for a pretentious factory owner, whose motives are questionable at best.  I guess I don't have to lay out too much more of the plot.  After all, is a fictional character ever happy after winning the lottery?  I don't think it is possible.

Fassbinder once said, "Every decent director has only one subject, and finally only makes the same film over and over again.  My subject is the exploitability of feelings, whoever might be the one exploiting them.  It never ends.  It's a permanent theme.  Whether the state exploits patriotism, or whether in a couple relationship, one partner destroys the other."  Well, that does sum it up rather succinctly.

Definitely a beautiful film worth watching.  But can we have something a bit more cheerful soon?

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Fox is played by the director himself, who lost a ton of weight in preparation for this role.

Anyone else spot the two leads of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul?