Review of Fear of Fear (1975) by Jason R — 06 Dec 2008

Given its subject matter, this may very well have been overwrought and trite; instead, it's one of the cinema's most quietly devastating romances. Fassbinder avoids the exaggerations and thin characterizations more common to social problem films, and gives us a wide variety of responses to the unusual pairing of Ali and Emmi.

Mira's performance is especially extraordinary, culminating in a perfectly bittersweet conclusion. As Emmi quietly cries at Ali's hospital bed, we're both relieved that they've found each other and saddened by the isolation they feel.

Though Fassbinder's work in this period was aesthetically unadorned in comparison to the BRD trilogy, his exquisite framing carefully places Ali and Emmi in a richly realized social context.