From prolific German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (who made 43 films between 1966 and 1982, before his early death at the age of 37), Fox and His Friends examines the age-old battle between innocence and corruption with an affecting story of a lottery-winning working class homosexual named Fox (played by Fassbinder), who is gradually taken to the cleaners by his new "friends." Particularly loathsome is his bourgeois lover Eugen (Peter Chatel), who, in one of the film's most powerful scenes, takes Fox home to dinner with his parents, only to subject him to constant ridicule over table manners. A fascinatingly beautiful and ugly dissection of the simple joys and convoluted wicked schemes embraced by the human heart, this 1975 film has been beautifully restored, thanks to the work of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. Sporting a crisp, richly colored transfer, and solid Dolby Digital 2.0 sound (there's also a 5.1 option, but it sounds much worse--hollow with echoes), this is highly recommended.A simple, yet powerful, tragedy of a common man, Fassbinder's 1971 The Merchant of Four Seasons stars Hans Hirschmuller as Hans, a fruit peddler who disappointed his bourgeois mother, lost the one great love of his life because he chose to take the low road to the Foreign Legion rather than the high road to a college education, and settled for second best in a wife (Irm Hermann) that he alternately clings to and despises. When a heart attack, brought on in part by his excessive drinking, pulls Hans off the street, his wife takes the managerial reins. But as business grows and family relations improve, Hans's despondency only deepens. While we may not be moved to compassion for his plight--in his drunkenness and violence Hans often seems little more than an animal--we are drawn to the story of this sidetracked, self-destructive life, as we are to other tales of devoured souls--both great ones and small ones. Boasting the same pristine restored image and solid Dolby Digital 2.0 sound as Fox and His Friends, this disc also includes three outstanding extras: a commentary track by Wim Wenders (this is his favorite Fassbinder film), an 89-minute documentary on Fassbinder and his work entitled "Life, Love and Celluloid," and the 51-minute documentary "The Many Women of Fassbinder," featuring interviews with Fassbinder regular Hanna Schygulla and director Bernardo Bertolucci, among others. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—June 2, 2015—Criterion, 88 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1971's The Merchant of Four Seasons features a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include audio commentary by filmmaker Wim Wenders, new interviews with film scholar Eric Rentschler (26 min.), actor Hans Hirschmuller (9 min.), and actress Irm Hermann (9 min.), and an essay by film scholar Thomas Elsaesser. Bottom line: a stellar early work from Fassbinder shines on Blu-ray.][Blu-ray/DVD Review—Jan. 24, 2017—Criterion, 124 min., in German w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1975's Fox and His Friends sports a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include interviews with costar Harry Baer (17 min.) and filmmaker Ira Sachs (13 min.), an excerpt from a 1975 interview with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (5 min.), excerpts from a 1981 interview with composer Peer Raben (3 min.), trailers, and an essay by film critic Michael Koresky. Bottom line: one of Fassbinder's best makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]
Fox and His Friends; The Merchant of Four Seasons
Wellspring, 123 min., in German w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.98 Volume 17, Issue 5
Fox and His Friends; The Merchant of Four Seasons
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