"Just STFU already!"
Since 100filmz (but with a little sex in it) has a "SPOILERS PLEASE!" policy, from what I understand, this review will certainly spoil whatever plot this experimental film has.
In fact, the title spoils the plot if we look at the origin of the term "run amok":
"The term originated in Southeast Asia, where 'amok' (variously spelled amuk, amuck, amuco) meant 'a murderous frenzy or rage'. This derived from the state of mind of the Amuco - a class of 'death or glory' warriors who were employed in local power struggles in Java and Malaysia."
Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/run-amok.html
Clearly the title implies Herr Raab's story climaxes in murderous rage, and that's what happens following a series of long takes illuminating Raab's lifestyle, often excruciating and boring, but occasionally humorous. Raab admires practicality and adherence to what he perceives to be proper social mores. Despite his efforts, he is a misfit, doomed to a complacent position of awkward silence while listening to insipid gossip from co-workers or his wife's friends, or listening to the condescension of his boss.
Lars von Trier (et al.) created a style of filmmaking called Dogme 95 to achieve a different sense of cinematic authenticity: no mounted cameras, no external objects or sounds, and a reliance on improvisation. Fassbinder does it 25 years earlier with this film. We are immersed in Raab's dull existence with a documentary-style presentation. The camera is almost always handheld at average adult height and often forces us to look down upon our anti-hero. You can almost feel film being psychologically drained and pulled downward by the framing.
(As an aside, it also seems like a precursor to Robert Altman's developed style of filming overlapping conversations and taking care to observe reactions rather than solely focusing on the speakers)
The film seems to center on identity. As Raab's wife notes, "there's a time and place for everything" and Raab simply wants to be himself. Unfortunately society does not accept his authentic identity, and his attempt at creating a socially acceptable one has failed. This futility seems to drive him to a triple-murder-suicide, presented with such indifference that it becomes more shocking than a scene weighed down by clever cinematographic or editing techniques. It evokes such contradictory emotions from empathy for Raab to absolute disgust and shock. It was my first Fassbinder film, I believe, and look forward to seeing more of his films and those of other "new" German cinema directors.
Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
Written and Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Michael Fengler
Grade: B+
In fact, the title spoils the plot if we look at the origin of the term "run amok":
"The term originated in Southeast Asia, where 'amok' (variously spelled amuk, amuck, amuco) meant 'a murderous frenzy or rage'. This derived from the state of mind of the Amuco - a class of 'death or glory' warriors who were employed in local power struggles in Java and Malaysia."
Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/run-amok.html
Clearly the title implies Herr Raab's story climaxes in murderous rage, and that's what happens following a series of long takes illuminating Raab's lifestyle, often excruciating and boring, but occasionally humorous. Raab admires practicality and adherence to what he perceives to be proper social mores. Despite his efforts, he is a misfit, doomed to a complacent position of awkward silence while listening to insipid gossip from co-workers or his wife's friends, or listening to the condescension of his boss.
Lars von Trier (et al.) created a style of filmmaking called Dogme 95 to achieve a different sense of cinematic authenticity: no mounted cameras, no external objects or sounds, and a reliance on improvisation. Fassbinder does it 25 years earlier with this film. We are immersed in Raab's dull existence with a documentary-style presentation. The camera is almost always handheld at average adult height and often forces us to look down upon our anti-hero. You can almost feel film being psychologically drained and pulled downward by the framing.
(As an aside, it also seems like a precursor to Robert Altman's developed style of filming overlapping conversations and taking care to observe reactions rather than solely focusing on the speakers)
The film seems to center on identity. As Raab's wife notes, "there's a time and place for everything" and Raab simply wants to be himself. Unfortunately society does not accept his authentic identity, and his attempt at creating a socially acceptable one has failed. This futility seems to drive him to a triple-murder-suicide, presented with such indifference that it becomes more shocking than a scene weighed down by clever cinematographic or editing techniques. It evokes such contradictory emotions from empathy for Raab to absolute disgust and shock. It was my first Fassbinder film, I believe, and look forward to seeing more of his films and those of other "new" German cinema directors.
Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
Written and Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Michael Fengler
Grade: B+
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