#428
Post
by therewillbeblus » Wed Nov 03, 2021 1:32 am
I've been struggling to sit and watch movies for a while now, but against my own recommendation in the RWF List Project thread, I'm going to sit down and go through Fassbinder's longest and best film slowly, episode by episode, and see if recording some thoughts at a snail's pace a) motivates me to continue watching and consuming this novelistic person-in-environment masterpiece, and b) allows more space to meditate on the progression of such an expansive and complex portrait.
Episode 1: "The Punishment Begins" [Note: Spoilers within]
Our initial exposure to Franz is that of fear. An afraid man, traumatized by life inside a prison's walls, cowering at the overwhelming, foreign milieu that he is liberated into, a prison in its own right. What makes this social world a referent of fear, a prison of implicitly constructed design? Throughout this episode, it becomes clear that this disturbance is only partially due in a decaying society on the political institutional level, through repeated subjection to social disconnect, which I'd argue is the primary- and more acute- source of malaise. The guard attempts to minimize Franz's experience with discomfort, saying others have had it worse. He's trying to make him feel better, to find gratitude through comparison. But what good is a comparison if we have no harmonic linkage to those experiences ours is being compared to? He says it's superstition to look back, and gives advice not to, but contradicts himself by stating that most prisoners do return regardless, and cannot answer Franz's posit that this may be meaningless. Franz's first moments of freedom involve hypocrisy, non-answers, help that is empty of merit or reason, and abandonment by one secure hell, thrust into a less secure hell.
Franz' psyche is in jeopardy, and a Jewish man tries to help. He tells him a parable, the moral of which is immediately contradicted by his brother. Franz overcomes his fit to grasp the incorrect message from the story- that he's still got his eyes and legs, and thus still has strength; not only misremembering 'legs' for 'feet', but forfeiting higher meaning from either version of the story. Now, there's some truth to Franz's revelation, and that resilience in turning to gratitude and empowering himself via attention to his humble corporeal agency is probably the 'right' significance to take away for his own benefit in this moment. Yet this is another example of characters talking past one another, not listening, not communicating or receiving guidance or social support that's very much needed.
And what does Franz do next? He forgets any humility gained from this boost of clarity and returns to his own immoral behavior of assault without self-awareness or apology. Franz' behavior shift mimics the frenetic oscillation he just exhibited in movement from a hysterical psychotic episode in the fetal position to a manic, jovial revitalization where he deserts hospitality with a mixture of unbalanced thanks and threat to his caretakers; Franz rapes a woman he already traumatized, fails to achieve intimacy with a prostitute in a meek, pathetic state, gains confidence and loses it as if it's a currency of no value, or at least a trait he possesses little control over without a map to maintain it with consistency. Franz' only sense of equilibrium has come from inebriating himself in self-delusion and selfish deviance. When Franz 'takes', gorges his desires, spews his solipsistic version of truth ("the truth is the truth is the truth is the truth.."), he remains composed, and can meet the world on its own fragmented, alienating terms in the present.
Franz meets an old friend, but has no interest in engaging in deep or moral conversation when confronted about his actions. He wants to drink, fuck, profess his perspective as unquestionable fact, and here we find the first moments of the film that carry a prolonged sheen of serenity. Everything that has come before has been jarringly schizophrenic, and just when we've begun to acclimate to this tonal nightmare of psychological chaos, Fassbinder chooses to momentarily relinquish the fraught subjectivity of the first hour, opting to bring us into the comfort of illusory excitement through a disregard for authentic engagement with oneself and others. It's a sick, twisted form of tranquility, for the juxtaposition between Franz' delusional beliefs and his behavior is alarmingly obvious, and yet we cannot deny that the peace he experiences is welcome and beneficial after the relentless turmoil we've seen him go through, and by proxy joined him in enduring ourselves. Franz recounts a dream to a prostitute, declares an oath to change, to be honest, and obtains great joy from this vacuous act. Even if Franz does 'rescue' the prostitute with full deluded belief he'll be a good partner, she's still a prostitute and thus a safe person to confess this to, to 'save', to own. Franz forges no relationships without a power dynamic, his sobriety to the world clouded by his own self-deceptive inattention to his defective characteristics and lack of skillsets to locate true amity with those around him.
So when Franz gets the letter that deflates his dream, confining him to restrictions within this prison of a faux-free world, those he loves cannot help him. Lina tries, but can't think of anything to say, so she demands Meck say something, but he can't either. Now, part of the reason no one can say anything is that the oppressive milieu itself is too overpowering in its abstract sociopolitical aggression, and this is certainly the point where the narrative begins to swerve towards a journey of environmental factors sabotaging Franz' capacity to enact and sustain moral change. However, Fassbinder is also interested in Franz' own nature as the diseased root of these problems; and perhaps not only Franz' but the average citizen in Germany during this time -all the more cheekily hinted at when Franz earlier promises never to be more dishonest than 'the ordinary man'! The fusion of environmental and innate responsibility will be the broad subject of this film, filtered through poor Franz as the guinea pig for us to suffer for, through, and with...
Franz may be despicable on a variety of levels, but I do believe Franz believes he's being honest when he stands by Lina, is dedicated to his oath and this woman, and I also believe that hope is important to have- for Franz and all of us. It's also a fleeting moment- impermanent because it's impossible to hold onto, because Franz is powerless over so much external and internal influence, but also because Franz cannot access insight into his impotence. He refuses to surrender, and while that can be seen as a strength, there is a healthy form of admittance that mirrors as humble surrender and unlocked possibility for conscious and motivated growth. Franz sets himself up to fail, just as much as the world sets him up to fail.
I find it amusing that when Franz exits the prisoner-assistance office and fakes misery before rejoicing as 'winners' with his friends, Fassbinder deliberately pans his camera away from their intimate social contact. The hugging celebrations occur off camera, and the episode ends. Fassbinder knows this is fleeting, and he wants us to know it too. These festivities are not indicative of the narrative's 'reality', and Fassbinder won't entertain Franz' delusions. So onto the next episode, where Franz is immediately financially and socially challenged by variables from his present and his past, his passing peace forcibly dissipated before our eyes, rendered meaningless against the grain of both the conditions of his habitat and that of his own character.