Fox and His Friends (1975)
"Faustrecht der Freiheit" (original title)

Franz "Fox" Biberkopf is a working-class guy, at loose ends when his lover is arrested and the police shutter their carnival booth. In need of cash for his weekly lottery purchase, Fox lets... See full summary »

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Christian Hohoff (contributing writer)

Stars:

Peter Chatel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Karlheinz Böhm

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Chatel	...	Eugen Thiess
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	...	Franz Biberkopf
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Max (as Karl-Heinz Böhm)
Adrian Hoven	...	Wolf Thiess, Eugen's father
Christiane Maybach	...	Hedwig
Harry Baer	...	Philip (as Harry Bär)
Hans Zander	...	Barman Springer
Kurt Raab	...	Wodka-Peter
Rudolf Lenz	...	Attorney Dr. Siebenkäss
Karl Scheydt	...	Klaus
Peter Kern	...	Florist 'Fatty' Schmidt
Karl-Heinz Staudenmeyer	...	Krapp (as Karl Heinz Staudenmeier)
Walter Sedlmayr	...	Car dealer
Bruce Low	...	Doctor
Marquard Bohm	...	American Soldier (as Marquart Bohm)

Storyline

Franz "Fox" Biberkopf is a working-class guy, at loose ends when his lover is arrested and the police shutter their carnival booth. In need of cash for his weekly lottery purchase, Fox lets himself be picked up by an elegant older man named Max. At Max's, he meets two younger gay men who have expensive tastes and images to uphold. The next day, Fox wins 500,000 marks in the lottery, and Max's friends suddenly become Fox's friends, especially Eugen, the heir to a bookbinding firm that's short of cash. Eugen's polish beguiles Fox, and the fleecing begins.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | lottery | gay | carnival | lover | 

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Genres:

Drama | Crime | Romance

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Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German English French

Release Date:

2 February 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fox and His Friends

Filming Locations:

Djemaa el Fna, Marrakech, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

City Film, Tango Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The normally overweight Rainer Werner Fassbinder dieted strenuously to lose weight in order to play the role of Fox, which included a full-frontal nude scene.

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Quotes

Max: There are drunks lying everywhere! The state should do something. It's the same everywhere. In Helsinki recently, there were so many drunks lying around even though it's hard to get alcohol in Finland.

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Connections

Edited into Ich will nicht nur, daß ihr mich liebt - Der Filmemacher Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques"
Written by Georges Moustaki
Performed by Georges Moustaki

User Reviews

Fassbinder's finest performance?

Fox and his Friends caused some controversy when it was first made - it was thought that this story of a gay sideshow worker who wins the lottery, only to be exploited to the hilt by his upper-class lover, was potentially homophobic. Fassbinder himself commented that the story could have been about a heterosexual relationship, but it wouldn't have been as clear.

Fassbinder himself plays Fox - the burly ugly duckling of German cinema miraculously slimmed down, looking almost handsome. Fox's street skills and good humour are undercut by his naivety, as his repellently snobbish boyfriend systematically scams him out of the thousands of marks he's won on the lottery. The story proceeds with ruthless inevitability, as Fox becomes more and more demoralised. Yet the film contains some of Fassbinder's sharpest comedy, particularly in a brilliantly embarrassing dinner party scene. RWF is excellent in the title role; amazing to think that the guy who wrote and directed the film (among so many others) could play a good-natured dimwit with such conviction.