Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (writer)
Christian Hohoff (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Romance

Plot:

Franz "Fox" Biberkopf is a working-class guy, at loose ends when his lover is arrested and the police shutter their carnival booth...

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Lottery | Working Class | Carnival | Gay

Cast

Peter Chatel	...	Eugen Thiess
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	...	Franz Bieberkopf / 'Fox'
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
Walter Sedlmayr	...	Car dealer
Bruce Low	...	Doctor
Marquard Bohm	...	American Soldier (as Marquart Bohm)
Brigitte Mira	...	Shopkeeper #2
Evelyn Künneke	...	Secretary at Travel Agency
Barbara Valentin	...	Max's wife
Elma Karlowa	...	Shopkeeper #1
Lilo Pempeit	...	Neighbour
Ingrid Caven	...	Singer in bar (as Ingrid Carven)
Ulla Jacobsson	...	Eugen's mother (as Ulla Jacobsen)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hark Bohm	...	Policeman Müller (uncredited)
Kitty Buchhammer	...	(uncredited)
El Hedi ben Salem	...	Salem the Moroccan (uncredited)
Irm Hermann	...	Mlle. Cherie de Paris (uncredited)
Wolfgang Hess	...	Salem (voice) (uncredited)
Ursula Strätz	...	Madame Antoinette (uncredited)

Directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder		writer
Christian Hohoff		writer

Produced by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	....	producer

Original Music by
Peer Raben

Cinematography by
Michael Ballhaus

Film Editing by
Thea Eymèsz		(as Thea Eymesz)

Production Design by
Kurt Raab

Costume Design by
Helga Kempke

Production Management
Lothar Elsässer	....	production manager
Christian Hohoff	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Irm Hermann	....	assistant director

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist

Sound Department
Lothar Elsässer	....	sound

Production Companies

• City Film
• Tango Film

Distributors

• New Yorker Films (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• New Yorker Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2003) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)
• Homescreen (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Fist-Fight of Freedom (International: English title)
Fist-Right of Freedom (International: English title)
Fox (UK)
Fox and His Friends (USA)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German | English | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Marrakech, Morocco

Company:

City Film

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.

Movie Connections:

References All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Soundtrack:

Bird On A Wire

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.