Based on Douglas Sirk’s ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, director Rainer Werner Fassbinder brought the story of an older woman falling for a younger man into the 1970s. If the age difference wasn’t a problem enough, cleaning lady Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira, BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ) is a white German and her lover, Ali (El Hedi ben Salem, THE MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS), is a black Moroccan.
They meet one night when Emmi comes into a bar to get out of the rain. The film’s themes of isolation are established early on with Emmi sitting what seems like miles away from the other staring patrons. The wonderful cinematography with its bold colors and metaphoric framing and staging is a subtle commenter throughout the film. Someone dares Ali to ask Emmi to dance, which he does. Because of the rain, he asks to walk her home. The two lonely souls talk and he ends up spending the night with her.
Emmi is smitten by the man instantly and Ali finds the first really kind soul in Germany since moving there. Unlike a Sirk melodrama that plays up the drama, Fassbinder does the opposite. The performances are muted, which adds a strange tension to the entire film. It’s like the characters, especially Ali, are always on edge. And they have every reason to be. Prejudice surrounds Emmi and Ali from their neighbors, co-workers, Emmi’s children, the grocer across the street and random waiters and waitresses.
However, Fassbinder is way too smart to just make an idealistic picture about two people in love fighting against society’s wrongs. Toward the end he shows how the pressures of society weigh on the relationship between Emmi and Ali and that prejudices exist in the most open-minded of people too. Fassbinder also wickedly observes that prejudices can easily be put aside when someone needs something. Ali says early on that fear eats the soul and that is what this film so brilliantly illustrates.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
