"Angst vor der Angst" or "Fear of Fear" is a German movie from over 40 years ago that runs for slightly under 90 minutes, so definitely one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's shortest works. I liked Margit Carstensen in Martha and I think in this one here, she is convincing again as well. The suffering wife roles seemed to have been perfect for her, even if her husband here is obviously completely different compared to the brutal sadist in "Martha". Anyway, I am glad she got a German Film Award nomination here as she was really the only thing that impressed me about this film. The rest is the usual Fassbinder that is not for everybody. Not only do the women look like dolls, but the film moves very slowly and focuses on all the characters and elaborates on their behavior for the most part. Carstensen here plays a woman in danger of going insane after giving birth to her second child. I personally found most of the other characters not really interesting enough, so I am glad the film did not go for that long. But my lack of interest in this film here has also to do with subjective factors. One would be that I quite like Brigitte Mira and "Angst essen Seele auf" and she is so likable in there and generally in her work that it was difficult to see her as amorally bankrupt character in here, an antagonist to the main character even (and to general harmony). So yeah, I did not enjoy this film a lot. Then again, I am not the greatest Fassbinder fan, even if I enjoy the works I just mentioned and also 2 or 3 others, such as "Herr R.". "Fear of Fear" is not one of the filmmaker's earliest or final works, somewhat from early in the second half of his tragically short-lived career. But it is also not among his best works. I do not recommend it. Thumbs down.
Review of Fear of Fear
