Properly Screened

Another one of my favorite discoveries from this project, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) is a story about the unlikely love that develops between two lonely people and the society that refuses to accept their relationship. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder , the film follows Emmi, a widowed cleaning woman in her sixties, and Ali, a Moroccan migrant worker more than twenty years her junior. Their meeting is almost accidental: Emmi takes refuge from the rain in a bar frequented by immigrant laborers, where Ali is jokingly dared to ask her to dance. What begins as a polite conversation gradually becomes something deeper. Both are isolated in different ways: Emmi by age and loneliness, Ali by xenophobia and his status as a Gastarbeiter (guest worker). In each other they find companionship and comfort. But their happiness is fragile. When they marry, their relationship becomes a scandal among neighbors, friends, and coworkers. Emmi’s own adult children disown her. People stare at them ...