Fox and His Friends
| Fox and His Friends | |
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French film poster
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| Directed by | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| Produced by | Christian Hohoff (Tango Film) |
| Written by |
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Christian Hohoff |
| Starring |
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Peter Chatel Karlheinz Böhm Kurt Raab El Hedi ben Salem |
| Music by | Peer Raben |
| Cinematography | Michael Ballhaus |
| Edited by | Thea Eymèsz |
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Release date
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Running time
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123 minutes |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | German |
Fox and His Friends (German: Faustrecht der Freiheit), also known as Right Fist of Freedom, is a 1975 West German film written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Fassbinder himself, Peter Chatel and Karlheinz Böhm. The plot follows the misadventures of a working-class homosexual who 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 lottery winner out of his fortune. The film is an incisive look at the relationship between money and emotions. Love is seen as a commodity that can be bought for money and lasts only as long as it is profitable.
Franz Bieberkopf is a sweet and unsophisticated working-class homosexual who works in a carnival as "Fox, the Talking Head". He finds himself without a job when his boyfriend, Klaus, the carnival owner, is arrested for tax fraud. Now jobless, Fox visits Hedwig, his sister, who likes to drink and is in no mood or situation to provide any help. After losing the remaining money that he had, Fox turns to tricks in order to buy the lottery ticket he is convinced will bring him his fortune. Cruising in a public restroom, Fox meets an older man, Max, a sophisticated antique art dealer, who is not willing to give Fox the small amount of money he needs. Undeterred, Fox stops at a flowers shop and swindles the ten marks he needs from the overweight gay florist. With that money, Fox buys a lottery ticket as the newsagent is closing.
A month later, Fox is at a party where Max introduces him to his cultivated gay friends. One of them, 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. The unscrupulous Eugen immediately leaves his boyfriend, Philip, and, with no effort, entices Fox who he finds easy prey. They spend the night at Eugen’s apartment, starting a relationship. The next morning, Philip finds them together, but Eugen convinces Philip to step aside for some time. Later, Fox and Eugen go to a working-class gay bar and then to a posh restaurant, where they meet Eugen's two other friends. Eugen then takes Fox round his new factory. Later, Fox goes to a gay spa and talks to Max, who suggests investing in Eugen's company. Fox then takes out 100,000 marks and gives them to Eugen; they go to the factory to tell Eugen's father.
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