Review of Fear of Fear (1975) by Peter D — 30 Jul 2011
A simple yet very profound and effective meditation on modern day racism. The story takes place in Germany in the 1970s and it concerns a romance between a Morrocan man and an elderly German woman. The couple is forced to endure racism from both Arabs and Germans and starts to be too much for the both of them and it reeks havoc on their marriage.
The woman becomes ostracized from her children and all of her friends who consider Arabs to be dirty violent people. While overtly affecting the woman, the man reacts to the racism in much more subtle ways.
He starts having an affair because he cannot stand the bickering and disgust of others towards his marriage. The couple starts talking less and less as they are overwhelmed with the hatred of their friends and neighbors.
After they go on vacation they find people more accepting of them ,but the film seems to say that the damage is already done and to reverse the tide of racism one must change society as a whole and not just the individual.
The couple manages to reignite their love for one another, only for the man to have heart attack. The heart attack symbolizes the meaning of the film. "Fear eats the soul" the heart attack is not simply a product of a stomach ulcer, it really is symbolic of the way racial prejudice eats away at society and the individual until it completely consumes and destroys them.
Hitler is casually mentioned once or twice in the film, I believe the mention of Hitler is a statement on how even the slightest bit of racial can spread like a wildfire and lead to genocide. Overall this is a great film and probably the best film on racism I have ever seen, as well as one of the greatest love stories.
This review of Fear of Fear (1975) was written by Peter D on 30 Jul 2011.
Fear of Fear has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
