It's been a long time since a film made me feel so gripping, and I'm eager to jot down some of my feelings. Fassbender is a name that I have always kept in my mind, and this is the last time I saw the masterpiece of this new German film star.
"Fear swallows the soul", in fact, it is more accurate to translate it as "anxiety" (Angst in German is literally translated as anxiety in English), but the ambiguity of fear and anxiety is naturally reminiscent of Heidegger's use of fear and anxiety as distortion and the division of authentic existence. This division is theoretical and is naturally ambiguous in reality. We fear the scrutiny of others because it poorly replicates our own scrutiny of ourselves. I try to convince myself that others are jealous of my happiness, but I cannot avoid my own torture: Am I really happy? What is happiness? The best part of the film, and what makes my cognition even better, is the contrast between hatred and hypocrisy: we can endure naked hatred, because of the heroism of the bearer, and suffering as a hero is also human dignity However, we were overwhelmed by hypocrisy. In front of the mask of kindness, I could not struggle, and could only be used willingly, lose my personality, and become a tool.
Also, I don't know to what extent the film reflects/criticizes the historical realities and social conditions of the time: German nationalism in the 1970s, hostility to outsiders, and tacit nostalgia for Hitler's legacy; it really struck me . Or perhaps, we are never far from the horrific past.
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