Faustrecht der Freiheit

Hats off to Rainer Werner Fassbinder who does just about everything in this rather sad depiction of a young gay bloke who wins the lottery. His lifestyle changes overnight, as does his popularity with the venal, exploitative "Eugen" (Peter Chatel) who becomes his boyfriend only to bleed the rather naive young fella dry. Sadly, much of the potency has long since departed this very dated drama. The imagery - plenty of full frontal male nudity and a causal, seedy, approach to sex in general was probably shocking in 1975 - but 55 years later, it is nothing remarkable; indeed at times it seems curiously prurient as there is virtually no actual sex. It has lost none of it's poignancy though - as a rather savage indictment of the human creature when large sums of money become involved, and of how the vulnerable just end up getting used - albeit sometimes willingly - as they enjoy their new status as "somebody's" before ending up totally abandoned by their parasite friends when the money runs out and the spotlight is shining elsewhere. I never found Fassbinder to be a physically attractive man, but like Klaus Maria Brandauer (to whom he bears a passing resemblance) he has a charisma that gets under the skin - and in this rather sordid tale of excess he excels. The supporting cast are competent, but this really is a one man show which, though I cannot honestly say I enjoyed, is well worth watching.