Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975)

Director:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writers:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (writer)
Christian Hohoff (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Romance

Plot:

Franz "Fox" Biberkopf is a working-class guy, at loose ends when his lover is arrested and the police shutter their carnival booth...

Plot Keywords:

German American Relations | Antique Shop | Drug Overdose | Munich Germany | Printing Shop

Cast

Peter Chatel	...	Eugen Thiess
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	...	Franz Bieberkopf alias 'Fox'
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Max (as Karl-Heinz Böhm)
Adrian Hoven	...	Wolf Thiess, Eugen's father
Christiane Maybach	...	Hedwig
Harry Baer	...	Philip (as Harry Bär)
Hans Zander	...	Barman Springer
Kurt Raab	...	Wodka-Peter
Rudolf Lenz	...	Attorney Dr. Siebenkäss
Karl Scheydt	...	Klaus
Peter Kern	...	Florist 'Fatty' Schmidt
Karl-Heinz Staudenmeyer	...	Krapp
Walter Sedlmayr	...	Car dealer
Bruce Low	...	Doctor
Marquard Bohm	...	American Soldier (as Marquart Bohm)
Brigitte Mira	...	Shopkeeper #2
Evelyn Künneke	...	Secretary at Travel Agency
Barbara Valentin	...	Max's wife
Elma Karlowa	...	Shopkeeper #1
Lilo Pempeit	...	Neighbour
Ingrid Caven	...	Singer in bar (as Ingrid Carven)
Ulla Jacobsson	...	Eugen's mother (as Ulla Jacobsen)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hark Bohm	...	Policeman Müller (uncredited)
Kitty Buchhammer	...	(uncredited)
El Hedi ben Salem	...	Salem the Moroccan (uncredited)
Irm Hermann	...	Mlle. Cherie de Paris (uncredited)
Wolfgang Hess	...	Voice of Salem (voice) (uncredited)
Ursula Strätz	...	Madame Antoinette (uncredited)

Directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder		writer
Christian Hohoff		writer

Produced by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	....	producer

Original Music by
Peer Raben

Cinematography by
Michael Ballhaus

Film Editing by
Thea Eymèsz		(as Thea Eymesz)

Production Design by
Kurt Raab

Costume Design by
Helga Kempke

Production Management
Lothar Elsässer	....	production manager
Christian Hohoff	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Irm Hermann	....	assistant director

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist

Sound Department
Lothar Elsässer	....	sound

Production Companies

• City Film
• Tango Film

Distributors

• New Yorker Films (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2003) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)

Also Known As:

Fist-Fight of Freedom (International: English title)
Fist-Right of Freedom (International: English title)
Fox (UK)
Fox and His Friends (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:123 min | USA:123 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Marrakech, Morocco

Company:

City Film

Trivia:

The normally overweight Rainer Werner Fassbinder dieted strenuously to lose weight in order to play the role of Fox, which included a full-frontal nude scene.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Ich will nicht nur, daß ihr mich liebt - Der Filmemacher Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1993)

Soundtrack:

Bird On A Wire

Another Memorable Fassbinder's film

In "Fox and His Friends" (1975) which Rainer Werner Fassbinder wrote and directed, he played a main character, Franz Bieberkopf alias "Fox", a lower class, uneducated circus worker who loses his job when his lover, the circus owner is arrested and sent to prison for tax fraud. Fox believes in his luck and strikes it rich by winning 500,000 marks in the lottery and very soon attracts the attention of an elegant, posh, and sophisticated Eugen who knows very well how to make Fox pay for his expensive habits and how to make him invest a lot of money in his father business that is not very successful to say the least. What fascinated me the most - how convincingly Fassbinder - one man production company who came up with the idea, wrote the screenplay and directed the movie- played seemingly tough but as it turned, confused and vulnerable Fox. Another interesting aspect of the movie is the way Fassbinder describes the gay community in Germany of the early 70s. He does not make any excuses and he does not make his characters complete villains or innocent victims. The story he tells could've happened in any community.