Film Review
Although he appeared in many of his films, Rainer Fassbinder very
rarely took the leading role. It is therefore interesting that
when he does play a principal character he often appears as the victim
- the detested immigrant in
Katzelmacher and the exploited
innocent in
Faustrecht der Freiheit.
The director's insecurities are as well documented as his outlandish
lifestyle and political views, but these films perhaps reveal much more
about who Fassbinder was, about the personal demons that tormented him
and motivated him in his work.
Faustrecht der Freiheit
(a.k.a.
Fox and His Friends)
is unique in that Fassbinder plays the leading character who is the
emotional focus for the entire film. There are some obvious
superficial similarities between Fassbinder and the man he portrays,
Frantz (known to his friends as Fox). But just how deeply runs
the association between the two individuals, how closely is art
mirroring real life? Like Fassbinder, Franz is overly conscious
of his working class origins and has an almost obsessive need to be
loved. Is the director also making a statement on how he feels
about commercial filmmaking? Does he feel like the exploited
lover, tolerated only because of his financial worth? The
similarity in the ultimate fate of Franz and the director's own tragic
demise is also striking, and adds another layer of irony and pathos to
the film. Fassbinder's decision to eschew theatrical stylisation in favour
of a more naturalistic mode of expression makes this a particularly
easy film to engage with, devastatingly so.
Like many German filmmakers of his generation, Rainer Fassbinder was
mindful of the social issues that were afflicting his country and would
bring these into his films in an intelligent, often provocative,
manner.
Faustrecht der
Freiheit aroused great controversy with its largely negative
depiction of gay men (as camp, self-centred hedonists) but it was also
one of the first German films to refer directly to the problem of
homophobia. The film also touches on racism - the subject of
Fassbinder's previous
Angst essen Seele auf (1974) -
but its main themes are class divisions in society and the inherently
exploitative nature of capitalism.
The film's German language title,
Faustrecht
der Freiheit, translates literally as
Fist-Fight of Freedom, which we can
interpret as
Survival of the Fittest
or
The Law of the Jungle.
The jungle in this case is of course the capitalist system, which
allows one set of individuals (the bourgeois elite represented by the unscrupulous Eugen)
to prosper at the expense of others (the ignorant working class, epitomised by Frantz). In
Fassbinder's most bitterly cynical critique of capitalism, we see how
love itself is reduced to a commodity, to be bought by those who can
afford to pay, but never given freely.
Whilst its conclusion is bleak to the point of nihilism, the film does
contain a fair amount of subtle humour along the way. Much of the
comedy derives from the fact that Frantz appears to live in complete
ignorance of Eugen's motives and true feelings for him, whilst all this
is blatantly obvious to the spectator. Eugen doesn't hold up a
banner saying "You stink you filthy pleb" every time he sees Frantz,
but he doesn't need to. His facial expression says as much.
Of course, this twisted comedy ultimately morphs into Greek tragedy
when Frantz learns the truth and realises that love cannot be
bought. At this point, the chuckles freeze in your throat and
your heart feels as though it has been given the full Van Helsing
treatment. For those who genuinely appreciate Fassbinder's work,
and know something of his life story, the final sequence is almost too
painful to watch, yet it is one of cinema's most powerful expressions
of human frailty.
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Rainer Werner Fassbinder film:
Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979)
Film Synopsis
Franz Biberkopf is a good-natured but guileless young man who earns a
modest living as an act in a travelling circus. When his employer
is arrested for tax evasion, Franz loses both his job and his
boyfriend. He is not downhearted, however. He is convinced
he will win the national lottery. Whilst cruising, he is picked
up by a gay antiques dealer, Max, and just manages to get to the
newsagents' in time to buy his winning lottery ticket.
Flush with his half a million Deutschmark winnings, Franz attracts the
attention of Eugen, a gay bourgeois sophisticate. The
latter throws over his current boyfriend, Philip, to start a
relationship with Franz, although he makes no secret of his dislike for
his new lover's lack of social graces. It transpires that Eugen's
father owns a printing business which has run into financial
difficulties. Frantz readily agrees to loan Eugen one hundred
thousand Deutschmarks to keep the company solvent. When Eugen is
evicted from his lodgings, Frantz allows himself to be talked into
buying an expensive apartment, complete with lavish
furnishings. Little by little, Frantz's nest egg is eaten
away, until finally he has nothing left. Then Eugen reveals his
true colours...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.