Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

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Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

1974

1h 34m

Romance

Drama

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100%

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41 Reviews

91%

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5,000+ Ratings

Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira), a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali (El Hedi ben Salem). Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.

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Critics Consensus

Regarded as one of the high-water marks in German New Wave cinema of the 1970s, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is at once an intense portrayal of a relationship and a tribute to one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film heroes, Douglas Sirk.

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Adam Kempenaar

Filmspotting

Apr 18, 2023

4.5/5

In All That Heaven Allows, it’s ‘only’ class that divides them. That’s part of its elegance - and potency. Fassbinder amplifies all of the oppressive forces that conspire against this couple without compromising either.

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Tony Rayns

Sight & Sound

Apr 1, 2020

Like Rainer Werner Fassbinder's other recent imitations of life, Fear Eats the Soul... achieves a remarkable balance between stylisation and realism.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Apr 26, 2017

5/5

It even manages something like a happy ending without sugar-coating the still poignantly relevant themes.Timely and heartbreaking, some 43 years after its debut.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Jun 30, 2026

4/4

Fassbinder famously observed that "love is the best, most perfidious, and most effective instrument of social oppression." This philosophy anchors his film’s central romance, which crosses generational and cultural lines.

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Becky Kukla

Vague Visages

Aug 7, 2023

Though perhaps not perfect, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is by far Fassbinder’s most authentic and human work.

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Apr 6, 2023

3/4

...a movie that seems to have given up on the very idea of genuine human connection, even as it aches for exactly that.

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Isaiah Y

@zayman2 Sep 19, 2025

Likely Rainer Werner Fassbinder's magnum opus

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Cem Okan Y

@cmyldz23 Jul 15, 2025

A simple artsy movie with clear messages. Might be biased because I missed Munich while watching it.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jun 8, 2025

Success in 1 hour and 34 minutes.

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LAZI S

@Lazi1970 Mar 3, 2024

What an amazing and forelooking movie. Was shoot in 1974. Can't image. The anthem of against any kind of phobia and prejudice!!!!!!

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Blob 9

@RT56114040 Jan 23, 2024

There are not many love stories revolving around May December relationships, but when they are made there is nothing else like it; unique, engrossing, sad and beautiful.

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Dave S

@RT68722908 Oct 18, 2022

On the surface, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul has a cold and austere look and feel to it, typical of Fassbinder's body of work. However, once you delve into it, there is an undeniable warmth that is generated primarily by its smart script and interesting premise. Emmi (Brigitte Mira) is an aging widow, abandoned by her children and working an unsatisfying job as a cleaner. Ali (El Hedi ben Salem) is a young Moroccan immigrant who lives with five other men in a small apartment and spends his time with a small group of friends in a neighborhood bar. When the two start a romantic relationship and eventually marry, they find themselves further isolated in a xenophobic world. While it is emotional and touching, it wisely avoids being nauseatingly sentimental. The accolades heaped on it may be a bit excessive, but it remains a stark and moving film about the power of human connections and the hatred that sometimes exists outside of these connections.

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Director

Brigitte Mira

Emmi Kurowski

El Hedi ben Salem

Ali

Barbara Valentin

Barbara

Irm Hermann

Krista

Marquard Bohm

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Synopsis

Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira), a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali (El Hedi ben Salem). Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Producer: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Distributor: New Yorker Films
Production Co: Filmverlag der Autoren
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 1974, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Runtime: 1h 34m

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