Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt

The film is a touching story of life in West Germany in the 1970s. A German man named Peter wants to be really loved. The story about the man is quite touching and unfolds about his childhood with a disapproving father and indifferent mother. He finds love and happiness with Erika and they have a son, Ernst. Still nothing satisfies him emotionally. He spends money to buy happiness even though he is bricklayer. The film is touching, complex and worthwhile about a man who is relatable. If you enjoy German cinema, this is a must to watch in evoking sentiment and understanding.

Made in a hurry for German TV, this demonstration of the adage that You Can't Buy Love is shot in a quasi-documentary style that evokes the British lumpenprole aesthetic of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. But Fassbinder is no social-worker/muckraker; this tale of a guy who just wants a little tenderness has the lockstep tragedic structure of Racine or Aeschylus. As in most of Fassbinder's best work, like FOX AND HIS FRIENDS, the impulse toward melodrama is naked and unashamed. The score, by Peer Raben, exceeds his most brilliant efforts. And the last line, and the hero's reaction, caught in nightmarish freeze-frame, stands as one of Fassbinder's greatest masterstrokes.

As usual with Fassbinder this movie is about a search for tenderness and love in estranged, modern times. Some of the most beautiful shots I have ever seen. And yet so simple. This movie made me deeply cry. Never will I forget the scene where he declares that he loves his wife, and that she says she will call him schnauz, because he reminds her of a dog. Outside, in the snow. Fassbinder is an artist who depicts the tragedy of modernity, of our society in which we are lost.

OK, since this movie was only film by RWF - beside Ali:Fear eat the soul - that I saw, I would not dare to judge him properly.

Though, this movie inevitably let the audience sense that it was made in such a hurry, and there are room for some refinement. Still, these unpolished scenes bring surprises with its idiosyncratic shot composition and editing, as Godard's early films do. as another reviewer mentioned, the last scene was a delight and sorrowful, simultaneously.

Peter's character (played superbly by Vitus Zeplichal) is one of the most interesting characters I've seen, but at the same time, it's a character that is most likely to exist in real life, and it is easy to relate. Definitely an interesting movie for people interested in psychology, it raises a lot of questions.

There's another layer of narrative ,which is told by RWF directly towards the audience through a text on the screen. I found this layer to be rather 'too-much-information' and redundant, but at the same time, it gave the audience an unrestricted perception of character's mind.