Review of Beware of a Holy Whore by Fassbinder

Another European film? Another Fassbinder film? Why? Why not study only American film? I don't know I guess I'm a europhile. Perhaps it's because I've been going to the movies a lot with my friend from Berlin. Maybe it's because Criterion recently came out with a collection of early Fassbinder films. Anyway, I like this film better than Ali Fear Eats the Soul, but just as much as Fassbinder's BRD trilogy.

This film has the visceral emotional struggle so inherent in the best of Fassbinder's work. It's in the Marriage of Maria Braun, it's in Veronica Voss, and it is definitely in this film. Before there was Brokeback Mountain or Milk, dare I say, there was Beware of a Holy Whore. Male homosexual love is given ample screen time, in fact it may prove to be the central conflict in the film. The thing which everyone knows is going on, but no one talks about.

Compared to other films? I, because I know Italian Cinema, thought of Fellini's 8 1/2 more than other contemporary films like, for example from Godard or Truffaut, or from other New German directors. Vincent Canby writes in his review from the 1970s that the film isn't just about filmmaking. What it's really about is the Director himself, Werner Fassbinder. And looking back in hindsight Canby is correct. Without knowing anything about Fassbinder, I think, a viewer would be lost about all the plot twists and turns, about his bisexuality, his love affairs with men and women, and his manic working style. Those parts of the film are best. When the director yells at everyone, telling everyone to do something, that is when you see the point of the whole film, which is a self reflexive narrative about Fassbinder's life.

Perhaps it is less pent up in theological debates then Fellini's film, which film to make? Perhaps I shall consult a priest? Fassbinder doesn't deal with any moral dillemnas here. Perhaps Fassbinder's indecision about his sexuality is his moral dilemna, Anyway, he merely presents himself on camera for everyone to see which is why it is a very good film.

I don't think it has as much substance as the films in the BRD trilogy. Yet, it is, to date, the most personal film from Fassbinder, I have seen.