Fear of Fear
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Year Released: 1975
Rating: 2.5
A hausfrau (Margit Carstensen) who is bored, stuck with an unresponsive husband and a child she doesn't really care about turns to pills, drinking, infidelity ... and this leads to deep unhappiness and a suicide attempt. As with so many Women In Distress movies, this is one rough long downhill slide for Carstensen's character as she receives little to no support for her sadness (even her mother-in-law barks at her) ... although it does have a slightly optimistic ending (strange for RFW) which gives the (positive) impression that she's on the road to recovery. Fassbinder's view of the family is often one of emotional (if not necessarily) physical cruelty, and as much punishment as he puts his heroines through, it's clear he sympathizes with their agony.
