Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

1974

1h 33m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

436

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68 Images

Romance

Drama

Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.

Directors

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers

Rainer Werner Fassbinder(screenplay by)

Stars

Brigitte Mira

El Hedi ben Salem

Irm Hermann

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Videos3

Photos68

Top cast

Emmi Kurowski

Ali

Krista

Barbara

Mrs. Kargus

Mrs. Ellis

Paula

Mrs. Angermayer

Hedwig

Bardame

Mrs. Munchmeyer

Mr. Angermayer

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Eugen

Albert

Bruno

Gruber

Doctor

Car Mechanic

Directors

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers

Rainer Werner Fassbinder(screenplay by)

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User reviews2

Review

Featured review

7/10

Does anyone remember when Channel 4 (in the UK) had their Friday night red triangle zone of late night adult films that would probably have been X-certificate but that were available free-to-air? I think this is probably the only one of those I still recall as it memorably challenges just about every stereotype in the dictionary. The elderly and widowed “Emmi” (Brigitte Mara) meets the handsome and younger “Ali” (El Hedi Ben Salem) who has come to Germany from Morocco to work. He only has limited German, but with the help of a thunderstorm and some brandy, the pair can make themselves understood and are soon an item. They marry. They are happy. Her neighbours, her family, his friends? Well they are not so understanding and are soon gossiping about and shunning the pair. Her daughter describes their love as “filth” and almost as quickly as they fell for each other, they have to deal with the pressures of an unforgiving society that disapproved of the gaps in their age and their status. With both having to deal with this increasingly toxic scenario in their own way, you have to wonder if they can have any future? Both Mira and ben Salem work well together here to create something vulnerable, fragile even, and the ensemble cast surrounding them work nauseatingly effectively in creating a sea surrounding this couple that is both unfriendly and intolerant. She tells him they are just jealous. Perhaps she is right or perhaps they are just a collection of ignorant bigots? The red triangle had to be there for a reason and so there is a little bit of sex, but it’s used here as a symbol of loneliness and maybe even desperation as “Ali” has to reconcile his affection for “Mira” with his innate hard-wiring from a culture where the man had to be strong and the woman more of a trophy. It is aptly titled, in English anyway, as it shows just how corrosive fear can be when people are convinced that failure is all that awaits them. It’s not an easy film to watch, but it’s a poignant one.

Geronimo196704 Sep, 2025