Fox and His Friends
1975 ‘Faustrecht der Freiheit’ Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Synopsis
Franz "Fox" Biberkopf is a working-class guy, at loose ends when his lover is arrested and the police shutter their carnival booth. In need of cash for his weekly lottery purchase, Fox lets himself be picked up by an elegant older man named Max. At Max's, he meets two younger gay men who have expensive tastes and images to uphold. The next day, Fox wins 500,000 marks in the lottery, and Max's friends suddenly become Fox's friends, especially Eugen, the heir to a bookbinding firm that's short of cash. Eugen's polish beguiles Fox, and the fleecing begins.
Cast
Popular reviews
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One of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's most well-known and popular films, Fox and His Friends, in which Fassbinder himself plays the titular role, is one of the filmmaker's most provocative, daring movies, and one of his best. Alongside the previous year's masterpiece Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, it tackles unconventional sexuality in an interesting, moving and emotional way. Fox (full name Franz Biberkopf, a name Fassbinder would use again for the protagonist of his career-best magnum opus Berlin Alexanderplatz) is the ultimate cinematic victim, a naive fool easily tricked and conned into giving everything up for human affection that he is too oblivious to see is for him, non-existent. A potent, relentless tragedy.
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After stumbling upon the realisation that Fassbinder is not actually as pessimistic as I had him pegged to be and that he is as unashamedly flamboyant as (and self-identified precursor to) Pedro Almodóvar, I was very much looking forward to discarding my ridiculously off the mark prejudices and finally seeing Fox and His Friends, the gayest, most penisy film the director ever created.
Newly freed up from the extended production (by Fassbinder’s standards) of Effi Briest, Fox and His Friends presents another human (though similarly downcast) social drama, in the vein of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. What makes Fox and His Friends stand out from the rest of Fassbinder’s films I’ve seen to date and from queer cinema at…
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A simple tale brilliantly told, which is at once so personal and universal, in which director Fassbinder plays the title role of Franz 'Fox', a circus performer who wins the lottery and suddenly finds himself used for his bank account by a patronizing, superficial older man. The film is deeply cynical, especially with it's 'downbeat' ending but this is countered by Fassbinder's storytelling and relate-able (non) performance, where he doesn't strive to be 'like-able' just real and honest.
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very importaant piece of the world cinema.
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Fassbinder se acerca a esta historia de amores traicionados, estafas y lucha de clases entre dos gays en la Alemania de los 70 con una sencillez y capacidad visual encomiables. Lo que en cualquier otras manos no habría ido más allá del telefilm de media tarde, a Fassbinder le sirve para mostrarnos la crueldad del corazón humano y la vulnerabilidad de éste cuando amamos.
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'Unsophisticated', working class Fox wins the lotto and is taken by his new, wealthier friends. A Fassbinder classic of love that lasts only as long as wealth.
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One of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's most well-known and popular films, Fox and His Friends, in which Fassbinder himself plays the titular role, is one of the filmmaker's most provocative, daring movies, and one of his best. Alongside the previous year's masterpiece Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, it tackles unconventional sexuality in an interesting, moving and emotional way. Fox (full name Franz Biberkopf, a name Fassbinder would use again for the protagonist of his career-best magnum opus Berlin Alexanderplatz) is the ultimate cinematic victim, a naive fool easily tricked and conned into giving everything up for human affection that he is too oblivious to see is for him, non-existent. A potent, relentless tragedy.
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Beautifully shot, well paced and well acted. I could see Pasolini or Almodovar making this film. This is the first Fassbinder film in which I recognize what makes him great, and why he is held so highly. This is a story about money, and how it walks in and out of our lives. How do we deal with ourselves when we don't have it? Tragic..
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After stumbling upon the realisation that Fassbinder is not actually as pessimistic as I had him pegged to be and that he is as unashamedly flamboyant as (and self-identified precursor to) Pedro Almodóvar, I was very much looking forward to discarding my ridiculously off the mark prejudices and finally seeing Fox and His Friends, the gayest, most penisy film the director ever created.
Newly freed up from the extended production (by Fassbinder’s standards) of Effi Briest, Fox and His Friends presents another human (though similarly downcast) social drama, in the vein of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. What makes Fox and His Friends stand out from the rest of Fassbinder’s films I’ve seen to date and from queer cinema at…
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In one way this is a story about a poor man who gets rich overnight and is exploited by the Bourgeoisie but it's also worth noting that its hero is an openly gay man in the 70's (albeit in somewhat liberal West Germany). Could the exact same story be said about a straight man or a woman? Sure there are many ways to be exploited and maybe Fassbinder chose to do it just because he himself was gay but that leads to thinking that this might have been a really personal project for him, casting himself in the lead and losing weight to be more credible in the role. I think it's probably just as much about homosexuality as it…
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Fassbinder is a downer. I love him!