Vintage Foreign Flick: Fear of Fear

AKA "Angst vor der Angst," directed and co-written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Released 1975.
Film is in German with English subtitles.

SYNOPSIS: On the eve of the birth of her second child, hausfrau Margot finds herself the victim of her own anxieties.

Review by CINEMAGIRL:

I'm a fan of retro foreign flicks. Starting with the French and Italian New Wave, these films began to explore human emotions, the impact of a human on his surroundings and the impact of surroundings on the state of human beings. Although made in the 1970s, "Fear of Fear" continues in that vein and explores the emotions and mental instability of Margot.

At the start of the film, Margot begins to feel strange emotions and paralyzing anxiety just before the birth of her second baby. She becomes gradually worse after the birth, feeling hopeless as a housewife. Her family doctor writes her prescription for Valium and tells her she is more sensitive than most people. Great diagnosis, doc.

Margot is alone all day with the baby. She considers pulling her 4 year-old daughter out of kindergarten to have her at home for company out of loneliness. At the same time, she must put up with a kind yet self-absorbed husband who is constantly busy studying for his degree, plus his bitchy sister and heavy-handed mother who live in separate apartments upstairs.

Margot has no one to talk to, except one unusual neighbor, the mentally ill Herr Bauer. This neighbor can see what Margot is going through and reaches out to her on the street, but she rebuffs him as being "a strange man."

Instead, Margot goes uncounseled and untreated, until she finds a connection for more sedatives. She later ends up having a near-suicidal experience which finally wakes up her husband to the fact that she needs real treatment.

The film is shot in a simple, straightforward way. However, there are times that Fassbinder creatively inserts a visual barrier between husband and wife, such as an ordinary table lamp, to illustrate their emotional barrier. The director uses dramatic string music to illustrate when Margot is experiencing an episode of anxiety or panic. He also uses a subtle ripple effect across the screen, most likely achieved by placing a piece of glass in front of the camera lens and turning it to make the room go just slightly wavy.

I liked that Fassbinder was respectful of Margot's character and showed real tenderness toward her mental illness. Even when Margot placed herself in compromising situations or went through difficult times, Fassbinder did not exploit the character or the actress by shooting graphic scenes. Sometimes less IS more.

Story: 8
Acting: 7
Shooting: 7

I recommend this as a rental during a foray into New Wave or other emotional European films. It makes for a nice psychological, character study.