Fox and His Friends (German: Faustrecht der Freiheit, lit. 'Freedom's Law of the Jungle'; also known as Fist-Right of Freedom[1]) is a 1975 West German drama film written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Fassbinder, Peter Chatel and Karlheinz Böhm. The plot follows the misadventures of a working-class gay man who wins the lottery, then falls in love with the elegant son of an industrialist. His lover tries to mold him into a gilt-edged mirror of upper-class values, and ultimately swindles the easily flattered "Fox" out of his fortune. The film is an incisive look at the relationship between money and emotions.[2] Love is seen as a commodity that can be bought for money and lasts only as long as it is profitable.[2]
Plot
Franz Bieberkopf[a] is a sweet and unsophisticated working-class gay man who works in a carnival as "Fox, the Talking Head". He loses his job when his boyfriend Klaus, the carnival owner, is arrested for tax fraud. Fox visits his alcoholic sister Hedwig who cannot help. After losing his remaining money, Fox meets an older man, Max, a sophisticated antique art dealer. Fox swindles ten marks from an overweight gay florist and buys a lottery ticket.
A month later at a party, Max introduces Fox to his cultured gay friends. The handsome but hypocritical Eugen shuns Fox for his proletarian manners, but quickly changes his mind when he learns that Fox has won 500,000 German marks in the lottery. Eugen leaves his boyfriend, Philip, and brings Fox to his apartment where they sleep together. The next morning, Philip finds them together, but Eugen convinces Philip to temporarily step aside. Later, Fox and Eugen go to a working-class gay bar and then to an up-market restaurant, where they meet Eugen's two other friends. Eugen takes Fox to his new factory. Later, Fox goes to a gay spa and talks to Max, who suggests investing in Eugen's company.
Eugen gets evicted from his apartment for moral reasons (two men living together), so he convinces Fox to buy them an apartment and furniture from Max. Fox buys them clothes at Eugen's ex-boyfriend Philip's shop. Later, they have lunch at Eugen's parents' home and Fox has no table manners. He signs a contract for a 100,000-Mark loan, which he barely understands, for Eugens father's failing business. Fox lends 30,000 marks to his ex Klaus, which makes Eugen jealous. At the apartment, they throw a party, during which Philip whispers to Max that he might be living there later; the party ends abruptly when Hedwig, drunk, makes a fuss. Fox and Eugen go on holiday to Marrakech, Morocco to salvage their relationship. In Morocco, they pick up a local male prostitute (El Hedi ben Salem), but he is not let into the hotel because he is a Moroccan.
Back from the holiday, the couple learns the company is bankrupt; the workers cannot be paid. Fox suggests giving his flat to Eugen, so the bank lets him take a loan to pay them. Eugen goes to the opera with Max, leaving Fox alone; Fox goes to the gay bar, throws a fit, gives 500 marks to the florist and runs off. The next day at the factory, Fox makes a mistake with some imprints; Eugen's father tells him off. Later, they all have dinner together and again, Fox has no table manners or savoir-faire. Fox goes to a pub and propositions two American soldiers, but nothing happens. He drives to the gay bar, the florist hits on him, and Fox slaps him; Fox has a panic attack. He tells Eugen about the attack but he doesn't seem to care. The next day, Fox goes to a doctor, who gives him sedative pills.
Fox breaks up with Eugen, who says he is taking the apartment to make up for the bungled imprints. (Although the printing error cost the business 150,000 marks, Fox does not realize that it was covered by Eugen's insurance, ironically purchased with Fox's loan.) At the factory the next day, he is told that the 100,000 marks from the contract was paid back in his monthly salary. Later he goes to the apartment and he is not let in; Eugen changed the locks and has resumed his relationship with Philip. Fox argues with his sister and sleeps in his car. The next day he sells his new car (a De Tomaso Pantera) for only 8,000 marks. Later in the gay bar, Fox sees the American soldiers and they ask him how much he pays; he starts sobbing as the florist tries to console him.
The next day Fox lies dead on the floor in the underground; he has killed himself with Valium. Two schoolboys steal his money and watch. Max and Klaus see him; they leave when they see he is dead, as they do not want to be involved. The boys resume looting Fox's body.
At the first showing in France, on 27 January 1978 at the Festival du film homosexuel, twenty far-right militants interrupted the screening. They stole the proceeds and caused six injuries.[3]
^The name of the character was taken from the 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, which the director later adapted for television. Fassbinder frequently commented, "I am Bieberkopf".
^Idier, Antoine (2018). LGBT+: Archives des mouvements LGBT+, une histoire de luttes de 1890 à nos jours. Paris: Textuel. p. 113. ISBN978-2-84597-697-9.
