ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL

Romance of the week:
ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL

Not since Harold and Maude, has there been a more mismatched couple than Emmi and Ali. Emmi is a 60-ish, widowed for many years, German woman in Munich. She is about as straight and conservative as they come. She steps into a bar one night and meets Ali, a black 40-ish Moroccan man that can barely speak German. Somehow, they hit it off. I guess you just never can tell.

This is a film that is on nearly every movie critic’s list of the best films of all time. Usually, that doesn’t impress me as I’ve found many such movies that I didn’t like. But this one, I do. I liked this one a lot. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because, against all odds, two people find each other and try to make it work. I say “against all odds” – there are a lot of things working against them. First, mixed race couples were not easily accepted in early 1970’s Germany. They have to deal with neighbors, her co-workers, her straight-laced children, and his co-workers. The have to deal with the difference in their age – which is not insignificant. There are cultural differences, language differences, etc…

This is a film, so devoid of the stereotype characters, that you have the sense of watching real people. Their actions, reactions are natural and without pretense or artifact. This is not the attractive young couple that you’d find in most romance films (even good ones). This could be you or I. It could be your mother. Real people.

As you might expect, this film scored a 100% on the tomatometer. Not only is it universally loved by movie critics, but it’s also nearly universally loved by ordinary movie watchers like you and me. You can read a detailed review from Roger Ebert’s site, the link is below.

It’s in German with the appropriate language subtitles. Get over it and watch – it will make you feel good about life and stuff.

Film critic Roger Ebert’s review of ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL.

Enjoy.