Western sausages... Each viewer has his or her own opinion about a film, and often these opinions do not coincide. I want to express myself:
The idea, the plot of the film - very interesting, I would even say very interesting! Without a doubt, Fassbinder is a fine director, ridiculing, in his favorite manner, all the hidden human vices and moral mutilations of a rich family. The only sadness in this film is the presentation of this beautiful idea.
Despite the modest (only an hour and a half) timing, the film looks hard and tedious. Sometimes it seems that some scenes are deliberately drawn out – perhaps to reach and exceed those 1.5 hours of screen time. Some moments are truly comical and stupid. I don’t argue that the film should be given an age discount: after all, it’s 1971. But let me disagree: there are a lot of more successful and high-quality films made 5, 10, and 25 years earlier!
The character of the main character, in my opinion, is completely undisclosed: it could be made more difficult, deeper, brighter - to tell his story, to give a broader and clearer motivation for his actions. Show them what they do, after all.
I’m not impressed with the other actors either. Everything at the level of amateur non-professional theater: fictional, unnatural laughter; absolutely "plastic" scenes of love; official and high-pitched views.
Terrible makeup and costumes of actors: what is worth only a “woe cowboy” from a saloon – ridiculously thick, in a satin shirt with a toad, a vest that is clearly small, and a hat that is more suitable for a rural preacher, but not a bully-cowboy ... (although, to be fair, I note that “Whitey” is not a Western, but a social drama that could be played with the same success in any other scenery).
In my opinion, in the hands of a more skilful director, a more juicy dramatic story could have turned out.
2 out of 10
(One point is adjusted for the age of the film, the second is adjusted for the country of release of the film)