Ali: Fear Eats The Soul

Leave your preconceptions about foreign and art house movies at the evocatively lit door: The films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, perhaps most notably "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul," are filled with sensual pleasures. His films - traditionally densely plotted melodramas - are defined by Technicolor-esque popping colors; by painterly shadows; by their photographic intensity. The reds seem to burn off the screen. Entire emotionally-heightened universes are conjured up in the process. Seeing one of his films remastered beautifully, and presented on Blu-ray, only confirms it: The use and depth of color in Fassbinder films is nearly unrivaled in its poetic effect, comparable to that of Douglas Sirk or Michael Powell.

Perhaps never more so than in "Ali," which borrows from Sirk the plot and palette of "All That Heaven Allows." ("Heaven" was released onto Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection earlier this year, much as "Ali" was this week.) In "Heaven," it was Jane Wyman's older woman falling for buffed-up outdoorsman Rock Hudson; here, it's German-Polish woman Emmi who falls for a younger Moroccan gentleman, the titular Ali. And so Fassbinder brings the sociological concerns of Sirk closer to the ground; incorporating elements of racism and nationalism into a tragic-romantic yarn that, in the hands of Sirk and Hollywood, addressed much vaguer forms of prejudice.

A number of special features are included with the Blu-ray disc, although they are all ported directly from Criterion's prior DVD release of "Ali." The requisite theatrical trailer starts us off; after that we get interviews with lead actress Brigitte Mira and editor Thea Eymesz. A short film where Mira revisits her character from "Ali" is also included, as is a 70s-sourced BBC program that looked at the "New German Cinema" movement that Fassbinder was often associated with. Finally, we get an introduction to the film from director Todd Haynes ("Far from Heaven," HBO's "Mildred Pierce.") The concept of that last one is as satisfying as the footage itself: If a specific torch was symbolically passed from Sirk to Fassbinder, then Haynes may well be qualified to hold onto to it next.

The final extra included on the disc is a clip from a previous Fassbinder film, "The American Soldier." (The scene is said to have inspired the creation of "Ali," hence its inclusion.) The film, which was previously released via Criterion's "Early Fassbinder" box-set, was the work of a great artist in development. Fassbinder's rigid mode of shot composition was already in place - but the nuances, the colors and the shadows weren't there yet. By "Ali," they're fully formed - each frame a painting, each shadow worthy of Rembrandt. The prior box-set displayed the work of a master-in-training; "Ali" displays his work fully-formed.

"Ali: Fear Eats the Soul"
Blu-ray
Criterion.com
$39.95