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As one of the most important figures in the New German Cinema, Rainer Werner Fassbinder made a lot of iconic films as director, screenwriter and even actor. He made 40 films in his 14-year career. Although his early films have nothing to do with Hollywood film grammar, the film Fassbinder made in 1974, Fear Eats the Soul is famous for hugely inspired by Douglas Sirk’s work. Especially All That Heaven Allows, the film Douglas made in 1955. Which a lot people call Fear Eats the Soul is almost like a “remake” of All That Heaven Allows. The film follows the same basic melodramatic tradition inspired from Douglas Sirk’s work. But compare to Douglas Sirk’s Hollywood classic, Fear Eats The Soul has more ambitions to explore class, sexual, and racism problems in the society. His attempt to provoke political debate in the film and his left-wing melancholy difference this film from other melodrama love story. His background of theatre and his love of long single shot give this film a unique style. His working experience in theatre influences not just the acting style in this film, but also the Mise-en-scène. Like in the middle of the film, Emmi and her co-workers having a lunch break in a stairwell. Her co-workers isolates her because the fact that she is dating a young Moroccan Gastarbeiter(guest worker) from another country. Her co-workers decide to walk away from Emmi after an unhappy conversation. The sequence ends with Emmi sitting alone on the stairwell.
The sequence starts with a master shot of Emmi and her co-workers having a lunch break in a stairwell. Like a lot of shots of in the film, Fassbinder frames shots through doorways. This makes the spaces looks more narrowly. The 1.33:1 aspect ratio of this frame reduces the space even...

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...ks me in the eye anymore”
The sequence where new Yugoslav woman joins the cleaners’ team is almost like a sequel of the first stairwell sequence. Using exact same camera angle and movement not just create a Déjà vu feeling for the viewers, but also imply how fear change people’s behavior. The fear of not being in the “team” and isolated by others perhaps is the answer of this film. The whole stairwell sequence shows Fassbinder’s love of observing human nature. His Mise-en-scène helps him explores the meaning of the sequence without using much dialogues and human interaction making this sequence different from most the film. The sequence itself is less dramatic and sentimental than most of the film. But the ending part of the sequence makes the viewers relate the character more than most the film, making the sequence one of the most memorized sequence in the film.

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