GERM 3160                                                                                                                    Jim Linnehan

MW 2-320                                                                                                                           01 Nov 03

Dr. Reimer      

 MEETING MINUTES (27 Oct 03)

 - Announcements made and attendance sheet passed around.

- Class broken up into 5 groups to discuss study questions* from “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul”

*Handouts were given out on 22 Oct 03, and there was an in-class viewing of Fassbinder’s “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul”

STUDY QUESTION DISCUSSION (GROUP AND CLASS RESPONSES)

Question 1:  Fassbinder made his movie to address the prejudice many Germans had against guest workers at the time the film was made.  Keeping this in mind, analyze the opening five minutes of the film (up to the time Ali and Emmi begin dancing).

-- Fassbinder portrays prejudices by having Emmi be much older than the rest of the group in the bar.  Also she is drinking a cola, instead of a beer, the common beverage in a pub.  Then when she removes her drab-colored raincoat, she is wearing awkwardly bright colored clothing underneath.  The group at the bar is staring her at, the positions of the characters in the bar isolates her and thus makes her seem like the outsider.  When Emmi asks for a drink, she is really asking for acceptance.  She does not receive the typical welcome that a common German would receive at a bar.  Fassbinder uses camera angle and position to minimalize Emmi, in that there is always something between her and the group at the bar, the camera distances her by putting objects in front of her so that there is never a clean camera shot.  The first 5 minutes is making Emmi a metaphor for guest workers in Germany at the time.  Emmi comes in to bar to get out of rain, hoping to receive a warm welcome.  Guest workers escape poverty and unemployment in their home countries and come to Germany for work, also wishing for a warm welcome. 

Question 2:  Compare the opening of the film with the opening of  ”Katzelmacher”.  What are the similarities?  What are the differences?

-- Both films are extremely static and have very little dialogue or strong conversation in the opening scenes.  The characters in both movies have very blank stares on their faces, as if they show no emotion.  The pace of the movie, as well as the movement of the camera is very slow and silent.  Some differences are that first of all, “Katzelmacher” was a black and white film, “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul” is color.  Also, “Katzelmacher” begins with a very chaotic storyline; in fact there hardly is a story.  The first 15 minutes has a broad story showing many different characters and people at once.  In “Ali”, the audience is immediately thrown into the story that will carry out through the whole movie.  The camera is also more primitive in “Katzelmacher”, it does not move around as much as it does in the other film.  There are more times when the camera is stationary and the action just happens to take place directly in front of it. 

Question 3:  The movie is divided into two parts.  Before the marriage and after.  Describe how relationships between the characters change from the first part to the second. 

-- Before the marriage, Emmi and Ali are interacting, even if it is in a dysfunctional manner.  She is losing touch with her children and neighbors however, but she is happy at least to have Ali and adores him and their relationship.  When they get married, things start to get monotonous.  Just as her family and friends start to accept her and Ali back into their lives, she and Ali begin to bicker more as the relationship is no longer fresh and exciting.  The two of them take a vacation, which makes things somewhat better; they are able to communicate more.  As the people are accepting Emmi back into their lives, they are only accepting Ali as a new “thing” in their lives.  Emmi is so excited to have her old friends back and old life that she allows this to be done to Ali, she even parades him around like a circus show.  Having him flex his muscles for the girls, having him show off his strength to carry furniture downstairs for her neighbors.  Ali begins to wander around more and goes to the comfort of another woman.  The relationship has dried up because these two people missed their old lives; they had rushed into their marriage and made a big mistake.

Question 4:  Analyze the mise en scene in the restaurant, when Ali and Emmi are having their wedding meal. 

-- In the wedding dinner scene there is a strong essence of entrapment for the characters by the way Fassbinder uses the frame of the doorway to style a closed-form view of the scene.  The camera is the exact distance away from the table where they sit to make the doorway in front of them seem like a frame of them sitting their, a portrait of what their life will be like as a married couple.  Fassbinder portrays Emmi and Ali as victims of their own emotions by positioning the camera so that it is filming the story through a doorway, a window, etc.  It makes the viewer see the discomfort, confusion and helplessness in the characters and the lives they lead.          

Question 5:  Identify the instances where Fassbinder turns individuals into objects of someone’s stare.  Why do you think he does this?

-- Fassbinder does this many times when the couple is out in public.  For example, when they are at the bar, when they are in the “biergarten” with the staff watching them, when they are eating their wedding meal.  Fassbinder will keep the camera on them (Ali and Emmi) even after the action that takes place has already happened.  The camera will not move off their faces because the director wants the audience to go through what they are going through by having to stare into their faces and find the emotions on their faces and to cause the audience to search their own hearts while they feel the awkwardness of these scenes.  Turning people into objects like this also causes a lot of curiosity and interest in the characters.  The audience will start to search for flaws in the characters, try to figure out their emotions, and also start to relate to themselves.

Question 6:  Argue that the ending of the film is pessimistic.

-- The end of the movie is pessimistic simply because it shows that their will never be a light at the end of the tunnel for these two individuals.  They are finally together again, dancing at the bar where they had met for the first time.  They even seem to be happy together again.  Ali admits that he has been sleeping with another woman, and Emmi forgives him and tells him she doesn’t care.  She tells Ali that she loves him still and that he makes her happy.  Ali tells her he loves her too.  Just when you think things might actually be okay, Ali drops to the ground in pain and is rushed to the hospital.  The doctor tells Emmi he has a severe stomach ulcer and will need to be on medication and back in the hospital every 6 months.  It seems like it could never get any better for these two, even after they have resolved their problems and are starting to be accepted into society. 

POST-DISCUSSION

- After the class discussion Dr. Reimer showed the class the original version of “Fear Eats the Soul”, an early Hollywood film named “All That Heaven Allows” (1955).

            - The film was recently remade again and named “Far From Heaven”

- The class briefly watched the opening scene:

- Film starts with aerial view of quiet and happy town, a suburban dream, much like a “Pleasantville” atmosphere

- Much better quality of filming and acting than in Fassbinder’s movie.  Much more going on in picture and in the scenes, more action than in “Fear Eats the Soul”

- Obvious close-mindedness in characters, story takes place in wealthy New England town.

PLOT DEVELOPING:  What is widowed woman doing having an affair with much younger guy?  (Not an issue of race in the American version.)

- Then the class briefly watched the closing scene:

- Ending scenes start off with a typical Hollywood dramatic ending.  She comes to see him at the house he is building for her in the mountains; she gets out of car, but then gets back in car and begins to drive off.  He is in woods, sees her driving away so chases after her, falls off cliff and is hurt pretty badly. 

- She receives word later that he is hurt, she is so worried about him that she stays with him all night, she realizes how much she actually loves him and the value of their relationship and of being happy.  When he wakes up he is happy that she is there by his side, and she promises to nurse him back to health.  They tell each other how much they love one another.  Then for some reason a reindeer walks by the window, and the picture fades to black.

- After a brief discussion of what we saw in the film and how we liked it, Dr. Reimer collected the study question answers and dismissed the class for the day.