maybe the weirdest 'statement' on racism ever made

WHITY (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971) **

Rarely screened, but must be seen by all lovers of the German New Wave, Fassbinder in particular, and high camp.

Fassbinder's eerie comprehension of Gunther Kaufman's psyche through a nihilistic Nietzschean tale

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ulli Lommel, and Hanna Schygulla in Love Is Colder Than Death (1969)

Hans Hirschmüller, Doris Mattes, Hanna Schygulla, Elga Sorbas, and Lilith Ungerer in Katzelmacher (1969)

Hans Hirschmüller in The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972)

Margit Carstensen and Hanna Schygulla in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)

Klaus Löwitsch, Mascha Rabben, and Karl Heinz Vosgerau in World on a Wire (1973)

Harry Baer, Günther Kaufmann, Hanna Schygulla, and Margarethe von Trotta in Gods of the Plague (1970)

Hanna Schygulla in The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

Helen Vita, Katherina Buchhammer, Margit Carstensen, and Kurt Raab in Satan's Brew (1976)

Günther Kaufmann and Hanna Schygulla in Whity (1971)

Günther Kaufmann

Ron Randell

Hanna Schygulla

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Whity is the mulatto butler of the dysfunctional Nicholson family in the south-west U.S. in 1878. The father, Ben Nicholson, has an attractive young wife, Katherine, and two sons by a previous marriage; the homosexual Frank and th...

Whity

Fassbinder&apos;s eerie comprehension of Gunther Kaufman&apos;s psyche through a nihilistic Nietzschean tale

Fassbinder&apos;s western with spoken lines in German. An interesting film of Fassbinder because you get to peer into his personality and his intricate knowledge of his actors&apos; psyche. Gunther Kaufman on screen plays the mulatto character Whity, whose mother is black and biological father is possibly his master. Whity offers himself to be whipped in the place of his master&apos;s son--a commendable Christian action. Decades later after Fassbinder had died, Kaufman goes to prison to protect his own wife, who was suffering from cancer, for a crime she had perpetrated. Did Fassbinder see this hidden characteristic in Kaufman&apos;s character?

The tale is sewn together with negative characters: Whity&apos;s masters&apos; family all who wish to kill his master, a prostitute who lies to the law to protect his master from a murder she has witnessed, a gunslinger (Fassbinder) who hates blacks, Whity&apos;s master who lies about his medical condition, etc. Everybody would like to kill or lie.

The end itself is spectacularly negative--something close to Nietzsche&apos;s philosophy. Visually powerful end, that beats logic for survival, as we understand it.

Ballhaus&apos; cinematography and Kurt Raab&apos;s creditable production design are commendable. Syberberg&apos;s actor Harry Baer in two of Syberberg&apos;s best films (Hitler; and Ludwig) has a minor role.

Fassbinder's western with spoken lines in German. An interesting film of Fassbinder because you get to peer into his personality and his intricate knowledge of his actors' psyche. Gunther Kaufman on screen plays the mulatto character Whity, whose mother is black and biological father is possibly his master. Whity offers himself to be whipped in the place of his master's son--a commendable Christian action. Decades later after Fassbinder had died, Kaufman goes to prison to protect his own wife, who was suffering from cancer, for a crime she had perpetrated. Did Fassbinder see this hidden characteristic in Kaufman's character?

The tale is sewn together with negative characters: Whity's masters' family all who wish to kill his master, a prostitute who lies to the law to protect his master from a murder she has witnessed, a gunslinger (Fassbinder) who hates blacks, Whity's master who lies about his medical condition, etc. Everybody would like to kill or lie.

The end itself is spectacularly negative--something close to Nietzsche's philosophy. Visually powerful end, that beats logic for survival, as we understand it.

Ballhaus' cinematography and Kurt Raab's creditable production design are commendable. Syberberg's actor Harry Baer in two of Syberberg's best films (Hitler; and Ludwig) has a minor role.

Whity is the mulatto butler of the dysfunctional Nicholson family in the south-west U.S. in 1878. The father, Ben Nicholson, has an attractive young wife, Katherine, and two sons by a previous marriage; the homosexual Frank and the disabled Davy. Whity tries to carry out all their orders, however demeaning, until various of the family members ask him to kill some of the others.

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