Angst essen Seele auf (1974)

Réalisateur:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Scénariste:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (writer)

Date de sortie:

15 août 1974 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drame | Romance

Intrigue:

Emmi, a woman truly in the second half of life, falls in love with Ali, a Berber guest worker more than ten years younger...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Widow | Sixty Something | Theft | Friend

Récompenses:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

Is it love?

Ensemble

Brigitte Mira	...	Emmi Kurowski (Emanuela ben Salem M'Barek Mohammed Mustapha)
El Hedi ben Salem	...	Ali (El Hedi ben Salem M'Barek Mohammed Mustapha)
Barbara Valentin	...	Barbara
Irm Hermann	...	Krista
Karl Scheydt	...	Albert Kurowski
Marquard Bohm	...	Gruber
Walter Sedlmayr	...	Angermayer
Doris Mattes	...	Mrs. Angermeyer (as Doris Mathes)
Lilo Pempeit	...	Mrs. Münchmeyer
Gusti Kreissl	...	Paula
Margit Symo	...	Hedwig
Elisabeth Bertram	...	Frieda
Helga Ballhaus	...	Yolanda
Elma Karlowa	...	Mrs. Kargus
Anita Bucher	...	Mrs. Ellis

Autre(s) titre(s):

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (USA)
Alle Türken heißen Ali (West Germany) (working title)
Fear Eats the Soul

Durée:

Germany:93 min | USA:94 min

Pays:

Allemagne de l'ouest

Langue:

Allemand | Arabe

Couleur:

Couleur (Eastmancolor)

Rapport de forme:

1,37 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (1979) | Singapore:PG | West Germany:12

Lieux de tournage:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Société:

Filmverlag der Autoren

Guillemet:

Girl in bar: Well... are you coming?
Ali: No.
Girl in bar: And why not?
Ali: Cock broken.

Connexions De Film:

figure dans "Zomergasten: (#10.3)" (1997)

Is it love?

First of all, this film has definitely the best (German) movie title ever. It loses much of its power when it's translated but in German it is absolutely fascinating.

On the other hand, Fassbinder's movies and especially this one are not untranslatable, which is positive. The story about a love (is it?) between two people of different age and origin is universal and, though set in a very xenophobe and intolerant Germany, should be understood by everybody all over the world. Fassbinder is a master in guiding his actors so they can they play naturally and believably without using a particular local accent or slang that is probably more realistic.

I do not completely agree with the film's utterly pessimistic view on practically all the characters in the movie; I think his portray of contemporary society is a little bit exaggerated (and it was even twenty-five years ago). However, I acknowledge that by means of exaggerating like this, Fassbinder makes his criticism clear and evokes a particularly bad feeling (of guilt?) in the viewer's belly. While the story is rather sad, it includes a lot of (sarcastic) side-swipes on society as it is.

Angst essen Seele auf (oh, this is a marvellous title!) is maybe a more silent version of Harold and Maude; more silent but not less interesting.