Lush and quietly devestating, Ali:Fear Eats The Soul is a scathing and pessimistic look at 70s German society and the inherent racism that lies within it. The story follows Emmi (Brigitte Mira) who falls in love with an Arab foreign worker 20 years her junior, Ali (El Hedi ben Salem). He is plenty in muscles but not in words, they intend to forge a new life together, however their passion cools with their own tepid insecurity and hostile racism from family, friends, and co-workers. The film acts more as a play, with acts bookended with a series of tableauxs. However the cinematography and colours like the film it was inspired by (All That Heaven Allow's) manages to stir audiences.
The acting of both the leads is incredible, both bring forth two range of emoting between, outwardly, and overtly temperamental on Emmi's part, to Ali's solemn, niave, optimistic nature. His dialogue add's to this, short, sparse and guttural, he conveys himself to the third person. Not only does this convey his innocent nature in the beginning but rather, helps shed away his humanity, by painting him as a primal, uneducated beast; an idea that becomes prominent later on. The camera work plays within these acting boundaries as well. Emmi's shot's presented as more erratic, closer, and free moving. Ali on the other hand is represented through long shots and mostly presented as a solitary figure. His alienation increasingly relatable, but so for out of reach for the audience they cannot reach out, but sit slack jaw in sorrow. With this use of camera work and acting, the way they subtly but surely dehumanize Ali is heartbreaking. His character's one vestige of love and humanity starts to accept societal's prejudice against him. Agreeing that all foreigners are sex fiends but Ali is different, and in one painful instance she reduces him to a hunk of meat, exhibiting him off to co-workers. The shot remains long and steady, it becomes voyeuristic and the audience immediately senses a state of displeasure. The shot remains and we break, allowing ourselves to see Ali in their light; a disembodied piece of meat, with well toned muscles.
This use of alienating and voyeuristic camerawork and direction is not only situated in the development of Ali's character and how society views him, but rather the entire relationship as a whole. For the most part the couple is framed and shot within door frames throughout the entirety of the film. The camera is far away with Ali and Emmi seemingly the only people in the shot. Their privacy and isolation being visually assailed by our greedy eyes as we feel the isolation they suffer.We see this through the infamous sea of yellow chair's shot, and the one awkward shot of them ordering in an upscale restaurant where they are all but alone. Albeit the door does close in the last scene of the movie by an outside source. The doctor who watches over Ali, who suffers from a ruptured ulcer, gives the privacy to Emmi and Ali. The privacy and isolation is something they now want; finally realizing that they are what ultimately matters. But for Fassbinder these door frame shots are not enough, they slowly dolly out, revealing wide open scenes where nary a human is seen. Even the support staff and waiters steer clear of this societally toxic relationship.
However even the extension of an olive branch towards Ali and Emmi later in the film, is only for benefits from various individuals (co-workers, neighbours and siblings), although even this has an insidious undercurrent. There still arises the premeating, perpetual cycle of racism. When a new cleaning lady from an Eastern European company joins Emmi and her cohort co-workers, they abandon her, wilfully disregarding her and start new conversations. The ideals of racism still alive and well and not only regarded for the foreign Arab worker.
Additionally the cinematography maximises the colours of every location, from the red theme of the bar we repeatedly see, to the decorations around us. These vivacious and cheerfuly colours contrast the darker and immer turmoil of our two hapless protaganists.
Ali: Fear Eats The Soul, is a fascinating film that brings forth the class and racist struggles, that are still relatable to this day. Handled with a veteran prose, the younger Fassbinder, heralds his unique film making talents in this thought provoking and tragic film.
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