Katzelmacher

Early Fassbinder. I'm not really familiar with his work yet, but I liked this one slightly better than Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, the other film of his I've seen. It's rather slow and uneventful, but the stark cinematography and restrained performances create an almost trance-like atmosphere. Not great, but quite unique.

Giorgos is a Greek immigrant. He tries to find his place in Munich, but the people there aren't too happy to see him. They try to drive him out, and when that doesn't seem to work, they molest him. The only person who is nice to him is Maria, a young woman who has fallen in love with Giorgos.

The film looks overwhelmingly white, the camera work is stark and restrained, and the actors are stoic but not wooden. The plot and characters appealed less to me, not ideal for a film that is little more than conversations between loitering people. The stylistic choices saved it for me, though only barely.