☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Fox and his Friends (1974) -- R. W. Fassbinder
Fassbinder turns his
camera on himself, as he stars as Fox, a naive blue-collar guy who wins the
lottery and then gets exploited by snooty upper-class friends. Fassbinder felt
that the fact that his story takes place within gay circles and the prime
exploiter is a boyfriend actually softened the melodrama, although I'm not sure
of that. Obviously, the real focus is on
class differences and we are led to feel closer to the friendly supportive guys
in the dive bar. Fassbinder's eye for color and some clever set-pieces and
shots (such as a great one in a mirror) are already in good form (in
1974). He makes great use of full
frontal male nudity, by positioning it in a distracting way just off-center in
the frame in one great scene when you are supposed to be paying attention to
another character speaking. Another
strong film in this amazing canon.
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