Ali: Fear Eats the Soul12A

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder | West Germany | 1974 | 1h 33m | Arabic & German w/ English subtitles | Starring Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann, Elma Karlowa

During a rainstorm, a sixty-year-old German widow visits a bar frequented by Arab migrants and befriends a younger man from Morocco. As their friendship blossoms into romance, they face growing challenges from the xenophobic and ageist prejudice surrounding them. Renowned German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, inspired by his cinematic hero Douglas Sirk, created a romantic melodrama of his own that is now widely regarded as a pinnacle of the New German Cinema movement of the 1970s.

Classic Season: 1974

Reviews

‘The performances are flawless; the themes remain timely.’
★★★★★
Wendy Ide, The Observer

‘Fassbinder made so many incredible films, but this is certainly up there with his finest.’
★★★★★
David Jenkin, Little White Lies

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We showed Ali: Fear Eats the Soul between July 7, 2024 and July 10, 2024.

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