Fox, a former circus performer, wins the lottery of DM 500,000 and can now have the life and things that he has always wanted. While he wants to climb up the social ladder, it isn't without turmoil, and being torn between his old working class roots, and the shiny new facade of middle class consciousness.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Peter Chatel Karlheinz Böhm Adrian Hoven Christiane Maybach Harry Baer Hans Zander Kurt Raab Rudolf Lenz Karl Scheydt Peter Kern Karl-Heinz Staudenmeyer Walter Sedlmayr Bruce Low Marquard Bohm Brigitte Mira Evelyn Künneke Barbara Valentin Elma Karlowa Ingrid Caven Lilo Pempeit Ulla Jacobsson Hark Bohm Katherina Buchhammer El Hedi ben Salem Irm Hermann Dietrich Kerky Ursula Strätz
O Direito do Mais Forte, O Direito do Mais Forte à Liberdade, Le droit du plus fort, Il diritto del più forte, Vahvemman oikeus, A szabadság ököljoga, Frihedens knytnæve, Özgürlügün zorbalik hakki, La ley del más fuerte, 폭스와 그의 친구들, 自由の暴力, Le Droit du plus fort, Кулачное право свободы, 狐及其友, O Direito do mais Forte à Liberdade, Prawo silniejszego, O Direito do Mais Forte é a Liberdade, ფოქსი და მისი მეგობრები, Pěstní právo svobody
France
Cannes Film Festival
USA
New York Film Festival
Germany16
France
USANR
France
Germany
USA
The tragic trajectory of Fox is evident from the start, though the exact details of his path are worth watching play out. This is a bleak portrait of a man unable to control his life, of the tragedy of being a misfit, of the power of money and love to destroy and blind and confuse. Fassbinder's awkward fool Fox bumbles through his life in a manner Terry Pratchett would call "gormless," and his helplessness is amplified by being a sort of fish-out-of-water socially. It is an indictment of class, a scathing sneer at the divisiveness of financial strata and the shifting mores between them.
At the same time, Fox is shown to be one of the few genuine people in…
i don't know if a better movie about being autistic exists than this German movie from the 70s which was almost certainly not made with any intention to depict being autistic whatsoever. big thing i see in the reviews of this movie (both on this website and in general) is people's disbelief at how naïve Fox manages to be and how he manages to get manipulated over and over, which is a reaction that surprises me time and time again because i honestly have nothing but sympathy for Fox. i can't say that such a cynical reading of the film is "wrong" because this is a very cynical film from a very cynical filmmaker, but for me the undeniable cruelty…
i'm gonna say it Donald Trump was gay af for having this playing in the White House all the time
“CASH. CASH. CASH! IF YOU REPEAT A WORD OFTEN ENOUGH YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS ANYMORE.”
Often, it is when you do not look for love that it falls into your life. It plummets into your heart and colors it red with a brush called idealism. You idealize the other person, you say things like 'I'd never have come so far on my own', things like 'Yeah, you're right. Some people are always right.' You love and you feel loved in turn - and you don't realize that it is a one-way street back into your own heart that beats with the red of destruction, not passion. It is a heartbeat that adjusts to the rhythm of the other person, abandoning you. He says you should speak French to be 'fancy'? You learn French so…
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Fox and His Friends primarily explores the hierarchical power of money. It’s certainly not a movie that communicates these themes positively or pleasurably, with Fassbinder amplifying a trait of willful self-debasement with its protagonist, Fox (played by Fassbinder himself). He excavates sorrow and wisdom from a mischievousness of getting what one wants and displays an excellent approach to both the editing and framing, with dishevelled images and careful composition, and although the overall tone of the film is pessimistic, it’s not without some well-needed humour.
Fox and His Friends is as unapologetically gay as it's cynically scathing. Characteristic of Fassbinder's queer sensitivity as well as his pessimistic, sometimes comical mockery of a materialistic German society and its gapping class differences, Fox and His Friends is a quite accessible entry point to Fassbinder's glorious filmography.
Fox and His Friends depicts Fassbinder's distaste for a morally decaying society wrapped in a captivating gay romance story. Playing the titular character Fox himself, Fassbinder completely involved himself in the creation of such an iconic, sympathetic role with his totally believable delivery. It's simply impossible not to fall in love with Fox the man child who blindly believes in true love and ultimately gets punished for his naivety. With equally…
48/100
As I remembered it from (yeesh) 20 years ago. (I saw much of Fassbinder's oeuvre for the first time in a big '97 MoMA retro.) Each individual scene is impeccable, but the movie consists of the same impeccable scene repeated over and over and over again, without sufficient variation. The dynamic is clearly established within half an hour; after that, it's strictly a question of whether the next interaction will focus on exploitation, class condescension, or both simultaneously. It's like watching someone being killed via lingchi, with lots of sneering thrown in as well. Nor is Fassbinder strong enough as an actor to make Fox transcend his function as a pathetic, symbolic victim. More an outrage-generating device than even a sociological treatise (much less a narrative), partially redeemed by a strong supporting cast and by the specificity of its queer demimonde.
They say misery loves company, but Fassbinder knows the real truth is that companies love misery. Plays a downright insane tonal gambit, which is to say, this starts as an outright goofy comedy that the acid of capital slowly starts to eat away at until not even the black, corrupted heart is left. Maybe the greatest movie ever made about the economy? You'd think we'd have outgrown this.
Another masterwork from the late German genius, Fassbinder both figuratively and literally puts every inch of himself on screen here, showcasing his skill as an actor, a director, a pianist, a nudist, and summoning the conviction to convey his struggle with sexuality as openly as possible. At its core, this is an erotic yet tragic depiction of several gay communities striving to belong, a baseline of class division serving as the major source of subtextual heft. Michael Ballhaus‘ photography is typically brilliant, and Peer Raben’s breathtaking music almost sounds like one of Jonny Greenwood’s greatest hits with PTA. If Fox and His Friends is anything, it’s brave. Here’s a prime example of that:
“And does he have something in his pants?”
“Enough for me.”
CUT TO: Closeup of Fassbinder’s bulge, packed tightly into his black skinny jeans, paired with the rousing tones of One Night by Elvis Presley.
Also, Elvis and Leonard Cohen in the same movie? This fucking rocks.
And look at the two of us
In sympathy
With everything we see
I never want anything
It’s easy
You buy whatever I need
But look at my hopes
Look at my dreams
The currency we spent
I love you
You pay my rent
I love you, you pay my rent
