Fear Eats The Soul

It was a brave film upon its first release back in 1973, and may well be considered even braver today considering the current political climate, especially in Germany. Fassbinder’s sensibly told story about an ageing German cleaning woman who marries a considerably younger Moroccan immigrant against all odds won two awards at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, plus a German Film Award for main female star Brigitte Mira.

Emmi (B. Mira) is a 60-year old widow who works as a cleaning woman in Munich. Apart from her married daughter and two sons, she doesn’t have many friends with the exception of some colleagues and her neighbours. Once in a while she drops into the local Asphalt Bar, a place for mainly working class folk, prostitutes and Arabian migrant workers. It is here that one evening she makes the acquaintance of Ali (El Hedi ben Salem), a migrant worker from Morocco in his late thirties who works as a car mechanic. Feeling sorry for the lonely old woman at the table in the corner, bar tender Barbara (Barbara Valentin) begs Ali, a former dalliance of hers, to ask Emmi for a dance. He obliges and the two dance to the tune of a song called ‘The black Gypsy’. During the dance the two begin a conversation which quickly turns into friendship, with Ali regularly staying over night although it is suggested that sex does not take place due to the age difference. Someone working for Emmi’s landlord drops by and warns her that her rental contract forbids her to sublet the flat, to which she replies that Ali is not someone who pays rent but her future husband. It gets somewhat confusing here, because Ali, who speaks German well enough although broken, asks Emmi what the landlord’s assistant wanted despite the fact that Ali was present during the conversation… so he must have understood perfectly well what the visit was all about. A flaw in Fassbinder’s script that must have gone unnoticed!

Some time later - to the disbelief and horror of those around Emmi – the odd couple get indeed married. Not only does this cause this a severe rift between her two sons and her daughter Krista (Irm Hermann), but even Krista’s lazy and prejudiced slob of a husband Eugen (Fassbinder himself in a cameo) makes his disapproval more than clear. Emmi’s neighbours and colleagues begin to shun her, even the local grocer finds a reason for not serving Ali and throwing Emmi out of his shop after a confrontation. Still, Emmi devotedly stands by her man, playing Arab music and allowing him to bring his Arab friends to her flat for a party. This of course causes more trouble when some narrow-minded neighbours complain about the noise from upstairs. During an afternoon out in a beer garden, where staff and other individuals stare viciously at the couple, Emmi finally breaks down and confesses that all the hatred around her is crushing her more and more although she tries hard not to show her hurt. Lovingly, Ali takes her hands and explains in his broken German that there is no point in worrying so much and that “fear eats the soul”.
The couple decide to go away for a brief holiday, after their return the situation seems to have slightly improved what with her sons and daughter talking again with Emmi. The same goes for the neighbours and her colleagues. If things have changed for the better then it has to do with the fact that Emmi’s attitude to Ali has also changed – in her desperation to be accepted by her German friends again she begins to tell Ali off for wanting to eat Moroccan dishes like couscous, stating that he is in Germany now and should start doing as the Germans do. When she invites her female colleagues over for coffee, the bare-chested Ali gets much admired for his soft skin and toned physique and Emmi shows him off like a trophy husband. This upsets Ali, who feels that Emmi patronises him and treats him like an object. Calmly, he takes his jacket and walks out of the flat, leaving an embarrassed Emmi behind who explains to her colleagues that Ali has “his foreign ways and moodswings”.

Ali briefly returns to the much younger and much prettier Barbara, the bartender in the Asphalt Bar, and spends the next few nights with her… not only for sex but also because she can prepare delicious couscous. One day while Ali is at work Emmi turns up unexpected and declares his love for him, stating that she needs him. Ali pretends not to know her while his colleagues poke fun at her and call Emmi his ‘Moroccan grandmother’. Heartbroken and defeated, Emmi walks away. Some days later she turns up at the local bar again, orders a cola as usual, and asks Barbara to play ‘The black Gypsy’ song again. Ali, who happens to be in the bar frittering his earnings away playing poker, turns around and understands her gesture… Walking up to her, he asks Emmi for a dance like on the first day met. On the dance floor, Emmi says that she is aware of her old age, thus Ali is free to do as he pleases though whenever they are together they must be nice to each other. Ali then replies that she is the only woman he loves and he doesn’t want to be with other women anymore before collapsing on the dance floor. In the final scene, Emmi is in a hospital room where a doctor explains to her that Ali suffered a burst stomach ulcer. Although he will make a recovery the doctor predicts that the same will happen again in about six months time due to the psychological stress that migrant workers experience. Emmi then walks to Ali’s bedside and tenderly holds his hand – adamant that he should not suffer another stress-related ulcer again.

ANGST ESSEN SEELE AUF (German original title) is brilliantly portrayed by its two main stars. Brigitte Mira excels as an old and lonely widow suddenly falling in love again with a younger man – her ‘Emmi’ exudes warmth, humanity and a big heart. El Hedi ben Salem (who was Fassbinder’s lover at the time) plays his ‘Ali’ as someone alienated by those around him and embittered over the treatment he receives as a migrant worker, claiming that “Germans are humans” and “Arabs are dogs”. It is only when he meets Emmi that his gentle side begins to show and he turns out that he is not all that different from the others.

SPECIAL FEATURES include:

Brand new 4K restoration from original camera negatives
· High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
· Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
· Optional English subtitles
· Audio commentary by critic and lecturer Mark Freeman
· My Name is Not Ali, Viola Shafik’s 2011 feature-length documentary on the life and death of El Hedi ben Salem, star of Fear Eats the Soul
· Newly-filmed interviews with director of photography Jürgen Jürges
· Theatrical trailer