Review of Fassbinder's The American Soldier

This was part of the criterion collections early Fassbinder series. I 've begun to notice some particular qualities about Fassbinder films, at least his early ones. The films are short. Not one is over 2 hours. And they all have a simplicity to them. There is no big theme or action. The stories are simple. With few characters, limited dialogue, and not too much action. This film, The American Soldier, is like that. Not much happens and the dialogue is kept to a minimum. The visual makeup of the film is also nothing spectacular. It does have a stylistic quality to it. It is an auteur film. The markings of Fassbinder are apparent in the film.

The style of the film is what was most apparent to me. I liked the short dialogue. The intrigue of a conspiracy at a police department. The big twist at the end where he is faced with the choice of whether to kill his new love or abscond with her to Japan. Of course he is stupid and shoots the girl. I detected a lot of sexism in this film. It was also prevalent in Fassbinder's Magnum Opus Berlin Alexanderplatz. Women in his films are often abused and rarely rise above the level of cabaret singer. There was also a strange sililoquy in the film. The maid sits at the end of the bed and tells a story while the killer and the prostitute make out. It is a stange interlude that really had no baring on the narrative.

This film reminded me of Love is Colder than Death another entry in the early Fassbinder series. Both films are simplicitic and pack a powerful ending. Yet, neither film rises to the complexity, visually or thematically, that Fassbinder's later work does. Specifically I'm referring to his BRD trilogy which I watched a while back. I will watch it again as part of my annotated bibliography for my screenwriting group.

The American Soldier also reminded me of American film noir of the 30's, 40's, and 50's. Yet there are differences. The main character is darker than the relatively quite American Noir detective/hero. Humphrey Bogart would never appear in the buff in any of his films. Furthermore he would never appear, or at least to my knowledge, never appeared on screen having sex with a sex worker. So, Fassbinder elaborates on the Noir detective/hero in his film which I found to be interesting and entertaining.

A good film. Not his best though.