Fox and His Friends (1975)

Bleak and uncompromising. This is one of the most depressing and soul-crushing films I have seen in a while. There is not one single redeemable character in the entire movie. But if there is any director who could portray suffering in such a raw and gut-wrenching manner, it was Fassbinder. The gay community in Fox and His Friends is not a happy one. They take out the oppression they face onto one another, they exacerbate their class differences, and treat one another like fuck-dolls. Fassbinder's use of Brechtian detachment techniques only heighten the anguish. Despite being so influenced by Douglas Sirk, Fassbinder is more restrained. The melodrama plays as if viewed through a filter. I can see where Rappaport picked it up from. But above all, the actors are so genuine and convincing, and I believed in their characters. Despite being such awful people, I felt for them, and I did not want the inevitable tragedy to strike. Cinema that can make me feel that is great cinema indeed.