The American Soldier
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Year Released: 1970
Rating: 2.0
Typically weird entry from Fassbinder's 'earlier' years (if you could parse up such a short but productive life into such simplified sections) that's as flippant as Katzelmacher and equally perplexing. I think it's a backhanded slap at America's involvement in Vietnam (the title killer is a veteran) - or maybe even an attack on U.S. 'products' as comic books (actress/director Margarethe von Trotta reads Batman), pinball, rock and roll and, naturally, moody noirs about shady murderers, hard drinking and cops - but I'm not exactly sure - it's never dull, but its long-term impact is negligible. People often complain that Peter Greenaway is a major put-on artist, but I'm not sure if, at times, Fassbinder wasn't one too.
