Film Analysis: Fear Eats The Soul
As the author Dr. Robert C. Thomas writes, Fear Eats the Soul “is a film of stairs and stares. Stares, because the entire film is made up of a series of looks: gazes that objectify, and trap, both the-one-being-looked-at and the one looking. These gazes are of such duration that they disturb and implicate the audience watching the film. Stairs, because we often see characters filmed behind staircases—or behind screens, railings, and staircases, simultaneously—often while being looked at, amplifying the objectification and policing of the characters.”. In our first encounter on the stairs Emmi has returned to her apartment with Ali. As they walk up the stairs Emmi’s neighbour tells her she has the 3 Marks 50 she owes her through a grilled shutter
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“We’ve spoken to everyone in the house and they all agree”. “About what?”, Emmi asks. “About the dirt in the house lately”, responds another neighbor. “We’ve all agreed that you’ll have to clean twice a month.”. “Me? Why? We’ve had our system for years.”, responds Emmi. “Yes, but the situation has changed radically.”, says another neighbor clearly referencing Ali. “With people like that in the house, dirt takes over.”. In this exchange the prejudice they hold towards Ali is perhaps more understated than in other parts of the film. But this prejudice is upheld when the people around Emmi and Ali want something from them. Emmi’s children want her to look after their small children for free and so they accept her into the family fold again. In another instance the shopkeeper who had once refused to serve Ali because of the fact that he didn’t speak ‘proper German’ changes his tune when his convenience store is threatened by the dominance of the larger supermarkets, And then Emmi’s co-workers attempt to form an alliance with her after ostracizing her because their salaries are threatened by an influx of cheaper labour from abroad, exemplified by the new worker from Yugoslavia. “The change in people’s behavior is thus effected by their realization that it does not pay to act on one’s prejudices”. People’s first reaction it seems is to be absolutely explicit and emphatic in their expression of
“We’ve spoken to everyone in the house and they all agree”. “About what?”, Emmi asks. “About the dirt in the house lately”, responds another neighbor. “We’ve all agreed that you’ll have to clean twice a month.”. “Me? Why? We’ve had our system for years.”, responds Emmi. “Yes, but the situation has changed radically.”, says another neighbor clearly referencing Ali. “With people like that in the house, dirt takes over.”. In this exchange the prejudice they hold towards Ali is perhaps more understated than in other parts of the film. But this prejudice is upheld when the people around Emmi and Ali want something from them. Emmi’s children want her to look after their small children for free and so they accept her into the family fold again. In another instance the shopkeeper who had once refused to serve Ali because of the fact that he didn’t speak ‘proper German’ changes his tune when his convenience store is threatened by the dominance of the larger supermarkets, And then Emmi’s co-workers attempt to form an alliance with her after ostracizing her because their salaries are threatened by an influx of cheaper labour from abroad, exemplified by the new worker from Yugoslavia. “The change in people’s behavior is thus effected by their realization that it does not pay to act on one’s prejudices”. People’s first reaction it seems is to be absolutely explicit and emphatic in their expression of