German cinema is underrepresented in the films we’ve watched so far and this marks the first work we’ve seen by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Not being used to his style or German cinema, it’s difficult at times to parse if it’s meant to be humorous. Its story of an African immigrant in Germany is a powerful one yet it makes its point so bluntly and the scenario is such a patently unrealistic one that I keep thinking it’s some kind of satire. It’s a very stylized film and an effective one but I think I need more exposure to German cinema to better appreciate it.

Emmi, an elderly widow, enters a bar frequently by Arab men, claiming to be seeking shelter from the rain. The patrons stare at her for being out of place until a barmaid goads a Moroccan guest worker to dance with her. The man gamely agrees and introduces himself as Ali as his real name is too long for most Germans to remember. Emmi seems starved for social contact as her children have all grown up and have families of their own. Ali walks her back to her flat and they continue their conversation. When Emmi learns that he has to travel a long way to return to a room he shares with five other foreign workers, she asks him to stay overnight at her place. The next day she realizes that she has fallen in love with him and they begin a relationship. They immediately face opprobrium from all levels of German society. The other women in her building gossip about her and complain to the landlord. The neighborhood grocer refuses to serve Ali. When Emmi gets married to Ali, her children are shocked and cut her off. Emmi pretends not to care but is increasingly worn down by the hatred.

It’s a familiar story of prejudice and racism, ahead of its time perhaps but about what as expected for those already with the history of guest workers in Germany. For me, it was difficult to empathize with either Emmi or Ali as Fassbinder directs in such a stiff, exaggerated style. So when Emmi walks into the bar, everyone there turn their heads to stare at her in unison. The same happens when the other cleaning ladies at her workplace decide to shun her. There’s no narration and little extended dialogue. The intent seems to be to present the audience with a stark moral dilemma and yet induce enough uncertainty to make us unsure of exactly how we should react. At one point, Emmi and Ali run away on vacation together and she wishes that when they return things will be better. Magically, it does as the other people in Emmi’s life decide that they need her enough to look past their prejudice but it’s presented in such a blatantly fake manner that it sometimes feels like black humor. I think this is the expressionist style commonly seen in German cinema and I need to gain more experience on it to fully understand how it works. Then there’s the language barrier as well. Ali is meant to speak serviceable but broken German and that influences how the Germans react to him.

It’s such a bold film in some ways, yet also such a shallow one in others. Emmi may need a man so much that she is able to look past Ali being Moroccan but she doesn’t seem to have much interest in him as a person in his own right. In that way, it’s not too dissimilar with the other Germans who decide to forgive Emmi for practical reasons such as the grocer who wants her business and her eldest son who wants her to watch her grandchild. But then the film itself also treats Ali like a blank slate character who passively goes along with whatever others want. There’s no discussion of religious differences before or after Emmi gets married with Ali. The film wants to blame their relationship problems on prejudice but normal couples find it difficult enough to maintain stable marriages and differences in values and age do matter. I get the point it wants to make, but it’s such an unnatural, unrealistic scenario that it’s hard to empathize with.

I get that this was a striking film for its time and the stylized presentation seems to have been inspired by the films of Douglas Sirk. But the exaggerated acting and stark symbolism are just too alienating to me. Fassbinder is a significant enough figure in German cinema that this shouldn’t rule out me watching more of his work and I may change my mind later.