I've been watching a lot of Fassbinder recently and this one feels to be lacking something - at least for the first hour or so.
I was, as always, greatly pleased to have my emotions manipulated in an obvious manner, and felt really angry about the racism in German during the 1970s, just as I was meant to. I felt contempt for the 70s clothes everyone was wearing, too. (I feel we have come a long way in both areas). But the film woke up for me when suddenly the racism of the people vanished, and it solved nothing: we were faced instead with the Turkish man's inability to adapt to German culture. I was so expecting a pessimistic ending (with which I felt I was going to vehemently disagree), yet instead there was optimism.
Nonetheless, I would still recommend The Marriage of Maria Braun and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant ahead of this.
(Watch out also for Fassbinder showing once more that he is at least Tarentino's equal in the acting department.)
I was, as always, greatly pleased to have my emotions manipulated in an obvious manner, and felt really angry about the racism in German during the 1970s, just as I was meant to. I felt contempt for the 70s clothes everyone was wearing, too. (I feel we have come a long way in both areas). But the film woke up for me when suddenly the racism of the people vanished, and it solved nothing: we were faced instead with the Turkish man's inability to adapt to German culture. I was so expecting a pessimistic ending (with which I felt I was going to vehemently disagree), yet instead there was optimism.
Nonetheless, I would still recommend The Marriage of Maria Braun and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant ahead of this.
(Watch out also for Fassbinder showing once more that he is at least Tarentino's equal in the acting department.)