Review of Fear of Fear (1975) by Richard D — 09 Jul 2016

A romance kindles between an aging, widowed cleaning woman and a Moroccan immigrant 25 years her junior in Fassbinder's homage to Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows". They meet by accident when she ducks into a bar he frequents to avoid the rain.

His friends jokingly dare him to dance with her, but they hit it off, each touched by how the other really pays attention to them. They marry and are very happy, but their friends, family and society in general are cruel and ostracize them.

This is a beautiful film ... at times tender and touching, and at other times infuriating. Like Sirk, Fassbinder accentuates the artificiality of the melodrama, but in a significantly different fashion.

There's a stilted awkardness to many scenes designed to highlight the isolation and estrangement of the characters.