Fox and His Friends

"Survival of the fittest."

1975 2h 5m DE

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

86%

FRESH

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 154🍅86%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 6,984

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Fox, a former circus performer, wins the lottery of DM 500,000 and can now have the life and things that he has always wanted. He enters an abusive relationship with wealthy industrialist Eugen in an attempt to climb the social ladder. His desperation for love and affection soon spirals into tragedy.

“Survival of the fittest.”

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Cast

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Franz "Fox" Bieberkopf
Peter Chatel
Eugen Thiess
Karlheinz Böhm
Max
Adrian Hoven
Wolf Thiess, Eugen's Father
Christiane Maybach
Hedwig
Harry Baer
Philip
Hans Zander
Barman Springer
Kurt Raab
Wodka-Peter

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Writers: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Christian Hohoff
Languages: English, French, German
Countries: Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

51 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Peer Raben. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thea Eymèsz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Peter Chatel and Karlheinz Böhm carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Survival of the fittest.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0072976 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rainer Werner Fassbinder directs. Michael Ballhaus behind the camera. Peer Raben scores. Thea Eymèsz cuts. Produced in Germany. Dialogue in English, French, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

151 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.
3Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Peer Raben. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Thea Eymèsz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Peter Chatel and Karlheinz Böhm carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Survival of the fittest.".
8IMDB entry: tt0072976 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "lover", "munich, germany", "carnival", "lottery".
10Released under 24 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Original score: Peer Raben
Editing: Thea Eymèsz
Production design: Kurt Raab
Costume design: Helga Kempke
Runtime: 125 min · 2h 5m
Status: Released
Original language: DE
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Fox and His Friends (1975)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 6,984 votes
MPAA: Not Rated
US box office: $8,144

Awards

1 win

Also by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-11-19
★ 7/10
Hats off to Rainer Werner Fassbinder who does just about everything in this rather sad depiction of a young gay bloke who wins the lottery. His lifestyle changes overnight, as does his popularity with the venal, exploitative "Eugen" (Peter Chatel) who becomes his boyfriend only to bleed the rather naive young fella dry. Sadly, much of the potency has long since departed this very dated drama. The imagery - plenty of full frontal male nudity and a causal, seedy, approach to sex in general was probably shocking in 1975 - but 55 years later, it is nothing remarkable; indeed at times it seems curiously prurient as there is virtually no actual sex. It has lost none of it's poignancy though - as a rather savage indictment of the human creature when large sums of money become involved, and of how the vulnerable just end up getting used - albeit sometimes willingly - as they enjoy their new status as "somebody's" before ending up totally abandoned by their parasite friends when the money runs out and the spotlight is shining elsewhere. I never found Fassbinder to be a physically attractive man, but like Klaus Maria Brandauer (to whom he bears a passing resemblance) he has a charisma that gets under the skin - and in this rather sordid tale of excess he excels. The supporting cast are competent, but this really is a one man show which, though I cannot honestly say I enjoyed, is well worth watching.

Production companies