Fassbinder’s debut film, this has many qualities reminiscent of French New Wave cinema, as well as displaying a creative use of limited resources to create an individual and distinctive film. Set in the world of gangsters and prostitutes, the narrative revolves around Franz Walsch (Fassbinder himself), a pimp and petty criminal who refuses to join the Syndicate. He befriends another criminal, extremely evocative of Alain Delon with his handsome features and trenchcoat, and the two of them, along with Franz’s girlfriend Joanna (Fassbinder regular Hanna Schygulla in her debut) start taking care of business by killing a rival and planning a bank robbery.
The high contrast black-and-white photography creates a stylised and surprisingly bright criminal underworld and often the action is played against the same spot of empty wall space. The static camera and long takes also builds the bridge between the Nouvelle Vague and independent American cinema, such as Jarmusch’s ‘Stranger Than Paradise’.
There is also a contrast between the coolness of the criminal underworld and the unpleasant, misogynistic brutality of Walsch towards Joanna. The killings also occur in a chillingly detached way and the overriding impression is of no emotional attachments between the characters and a feeling of disillusionment with society at large – something Fassbinder would explore much further in his later work.
‘Love Is Colder Than Death’, an excellent title, is also a pretty enjoyable film for any cineaste. It shows the point where the Germans were beginning their own New Wave and assimilating the gangster genre from Hollywood, via France, into a distinctive story of post-war Germany.
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