A quiet, devastating melodrama about an impossible romance between an elderly German widow and a young Moroccan mechanic. Amidst a yellow sea of empty chairs and cold stares, their tender love exposes the cruel hypocrisies of a society consumed by prejudice.
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Angst essen Seele auf
Director:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Cast:
Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Irm Hermann, Barbara Valentin, Elma Karlowa
Drama
Romance
Budget:
$130,000
Box Office:
$186,757
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details
Easter Eggs
The American Soldier Connection
The story of Emmi and Ali was actually told as an anecdote by a character (a cleaning lady) in Fassbinder's earlier film The American Soldier (1970), essentially making this film a cinematic expansion of that brief story.
The Kicked Television
When Emmi's son kicks in the TV screen, it is a direct visual homage to Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows, where the TV symbolizes the sterile life society tries to force upon the widow.
Munich Massacre Reference
Ali mentions that Germans haven't been good to Arabs "since the Olympics," a direct reference to the 1972 Munich massacre, grounding the film in the specific political tension of its time.