Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Spectatorship and Structure)

 

    For a film that seems monotonous at first glance, Fassbinder's work challenges the view of the audience. The dialogue and settings often feel boring and stiff, but it forces the audience to notice the minuscule changes in the characters. 

    At the beginning and end of the film, Emmi and Ali share a dance and a conversation. They solidify their awkward relationship with the eyes of the audience and the patrons of the bar on them. These quiet, almost silent moments throughout the film makes the audience feel as though they are entering a private moment. The awkwardness of their relationship makes you feel as though you are judging their relationship, just as their peers are judging them. In Fassbinder's films, he forces you to become a part of that judgmental group. You are disgusted by the way they are treating Ali and Emmi, but you don't feel comfortable with their relationship either. Even though the audience judges their relationship for different reasons, their is still the guilt of being somewhat against their relationship.

    While watching this film, the timing of the events did not feel comfortable or natural. The lack of a narrative structure is prevents the audience from feeling comfortable. In a film that seems tame at first has bursts of aggression that bring you back into the film. When Emmi explains to her children that she is newly married, her son kicks the screen of her television, shattering it. And at the end of the film, Ali slaps himself in the bathroom. These moments are jarring, but they keep the film moving without the need of a typical narrative style. 

   

    Fassbinder also leaves out crucial moments that would be included in a narrative driven film. Halfway through the movie, Emmi and Ali leave for a vacation, hoping that everyone will be kinder to them when they return. The surprising thing is that they do become cordial to Emmi and Ali. The audience does not get to see what happened on their vacation, but it is understood that it is a crucial turning point in the film. Emmi's neighbors ask to use some of her storage space and her son asks her to babysit. Although they only ask these things because they need her, it is a relief for the audience and the characters. These 'missing' scenes hold as much weight to the film's structure as the included scenes.