OK, final movie on the Fassbinder “early movies” box set… I have to say that I’ve been surprisingly underwhelmed by the other movies here, because I like many of Fassbinder’s later movies.
I think the slow pace of the film re-creates an environment (namely the filming of the previous Fassbinder film, whitey) and achieves its purpose masterfully, combining all the sexual, emotional,and mental frustration of making a film.
OK, so this was made at the tail end Whity, which was a bigger, “proper” movie. So this is a fictional account about making that movie…
I read the helpful mini essay on the DVD: This movie (sort of) marked the end of Fassbinder’s early phase, and he’d make only one more movie before dissolving his Antiteater group and changing the way he’d make movies.
And that helps, I guess? This movie is a kind of critique of himself and his movies… Or parody, kinda.
It’s just… it just seems so indifferently shot? Fassbinder’s movies at least look great. The shot above isn’t from from the middle of a pan or anything — it’s where the camera was placed for a couple of minutes and we look at this and these people. But… the framing is totally without interest, and nothing in the frame looks interesting, and all of this movie is basically like this. Just … nothing.
So of course the cinematographer became hot shit in the US later (Goodfellas etc).
(That’s the guy playing Fassbinder (as a neurotic director).)
It admirable how he’s skewering himself (both as the director and as the producer he’s playing himself) — it’s quite savage. But it’s just not funny enough.
Beware of a Holy Whore. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1971.
OH MY GOD is this the best movie ever made? IT COULD BE
OK, this isn’t the best movie ever. But it’s quite amusing.
Absolutely.
The Polly Magoo movie was so fascinating. It kinda didn’t follow through on its promise… it just couldn’t quite make it work. But it’s almost a fucking masterpiece.
This one, though… It started off strong, but now it’s just one slightly amusing scene after another. It’s got a pretty good central idea, and it looks great, but it’s getting kinda boring? Already?
It’s very pop art.
OK, I’ll say it: It’s got striking visuals, but it’s kinda tedious. It’s like a 50s sci-fi movie, but with 1968 ironic politics. I imagine they were aiming for the opposite: A 1968 political movie referencing 1950s sci-fi visuals?
Wow, never seen that phone model before. It’s… odd…
This has a good noir thing going on.
This is quite amusing and, as usual with Fassbinder, I love each individual shot. But I don’t think this quite works? I mean, it’s a kind of parody/pastiche of a noir movie, but it’s just not that… funny/interesting? For this sort of thing to work, it has to be riveting, and too many scenes just don’t connect?
It’s just uneven, is what I’m saying, and uneven doesn’t work.
But the characters keep repeating “Ich gehe jetzt”, which flashed me back to this every time:
Einstürzende Neubauten - Ich Gehe Jetzt
The American Soldier. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1970.
This is absolutely magnificent! And I thought I wasn’t totally ignorant about films from this era, but I’ve never seen a film by William Klien before.
And based on the first ten minutes of this movie, he might be the best director of anything in the whole world ever!
I am the flabbergast!
I love every scene in this movie. But I’ll be really disappointed if it all doesn’t like cohere. I mean, it’s hilarious and smart and gorgeous, and it’s got a whole bunch of loose plot threads going (there’s a documentary crew, a prince?, there’s some secret agents !?!?, whaaa), and I so hoping that he’ll tie things together.
Yeah, I think this is going in the direction that I was worried about. I mean, every scene is funny (and brilliantly shot and acted) — even if this parody of psychoanalysis went on a bit long — but I think it’s basically going to be one funny scene after another until the movie ends. Without any sort of coherence.
This film is so fucking close to being a fucking masterpiece. And while they did kinda pull it together at the end, they went for the joke, once again, instead of something… more.
But I mean — the movie’s hilarious, and so stylish and smart, and it was a joy to watch.
