Fassbinder: Fear of fear (1975)

I've seen quite few horror movies and even fewer have had what I would call the depth to evoke real fear. I thought about that after having watched another one of Fassbinder's films made for German TV - Angst vor der Angst (1974). Thematically similar to both Martha (familial abuse) and Herr R läuft amok, there are still many differences and there are quite a few things that makes Fear of fear unique; an exciting film to watch. Again, this is a sparse film with regard to locations and character gallery. Margot lives with her husband, who is at pains to pass an exam. They have two kids. Marha talks about her feelings of fear with her husband, but he doesn't pay much attention. Accompanied by her husband, she visits the doctor, and he prescribes Valium for her. She takes comfort in a mix of Valium and cognac, while her nosy mother & sister keep telling her what a bad mother she is. The pharmacist next door gives her more Valium, and she gives him sex. A strange neighbor - a most brilliant Kurt Raab, from Herr R Läuft Amok - sneaks up on her as soon as she leaves the house.

But you may not get a good idea about what this film is like based on this shallow description. In quite a few scenes we see Margot watching herself in the mirror, stone-faced, even making faces at herself. Suddenly the picture gets all blurry. The effect is harrowing. There are many small cinematic effects that contribute to the eerie atmosphere of the film. We see a face from a distance, but suddenly the camera makes a sudden zooming movement. The way scenes are interrupted by small black screens is also very effective. The frozen pictures of herr Bauer, the unnerving neighbor, create the feel of horror movie. A lot of scenes made me ask myself what exactly it was I was seeing, and whose perspective is evoked. For this reason, it would perhaps be a good idea to watch this film several times, to fully grasp the details. But the confusion of watching the emotionally packed images also worked as a spot-on description of Margot's state of mind: she fears something, but it is not a particular something. Focused in time & place as this film is, a no-budget effort, one might think, a lot happens in each scene.