El Hedi ben Salem explained

El Hedi ben Salem
Birth Name:El Hedi ben Salem m'Barek Mohammed Mustafa
Birth Date: 1935
Birth Place:Morocco
Death Date:1977 (aged 43-44)
Death Place:Nîmes, France
Othername:Salem El Hedi
Salem El Heïdi
El Hedi Ben Salem
Elhedi Ben Salem
Years Active:1971 - 1975
Children:5

El Hedi ben Salem (1935[1]  - 1977) was a Moroccan actor, best known for his work with film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Early life

Salem was born El Hedi ben Salem m'Barek Mohammed Mustafa in a small village in Morocco to a well to do Hartani family. At the age of 15, he married a 13-year-old girl. He and his wife eventually had five children and settled in a town near the Atlas Mountains.[2] By the early 1970s, Salem had left his wife and children and moved to Europe.[3]

Career

In early 1971, Salem met German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder at a gay bathhouse in Paris, and the two began a romantic relationship.[4] He moved to Germany with Fassbinder and became a part of the director's entourage. He played several minor roles in Fassbinder's films. Fassbinder eventually cast Salem in the lead role in (1974), a film that explores xenophobia in post-World War II Germany. In the film, Salem portrays a Moroccan immigrant living in Germany who begins a relationship with an older German woman whom he eventually marries.[5] The film brought Fassbinder worldwide critical acclaim and became Salem's best known role.[3] [6] Throughout the mid-1970s, Salem continued to appear in Fassbinder's films in supporting roles. His final onscreen role was in Fassbinder's romantic drama Fox and His Friends in 1975.[7]

Relationship with Fassbinder

Salem and Fassbinder's relationship was reportedly tumultuous. They fought frequently due in part to Salem's short temper, which turned violent when he drank.[4] While Salem and Fassbinder were living together in Germany, Fassbinder convinced Salem to bring his two teenaged sons, who lived in Morocco with Salem's estranged wife, to live with them. Against their mother's wishes, Salem brought the boys to Germany.

The arrangement did not last long as the boys were unprepared for life in a different culture, and they were frequently subjected to racism.[3] [8] While Fassbinder considered the boys his own, neither he nor Salem was up to the task of raising children.[3] Both frequently drank, took drugs and often left the boys with various friends.[3] One of Salem's sons returned to his mother in Morocco, and the other went to different homes and finally a reformatory.[3]

In 1974, Fassbinder ended the relationship due to Salem's violence and drinking.[4] After the breakup, Salem's alcoholism worsened. Director Daniel Schmid, one of Fassbinder's close friends, later told film critic Roger Ebert that shortly after the break up, Salem got drunk and "went to a place in Berlin and stabbed three people."[9] Salem then returned to Fassbinder and told him "You don't have to be afraid anymore."[10]

Death

After the stabbings, none of which were fatal, Salem fled to France aided by Fassbinder and his friends.[11] Schmid later recalled that Salem had to be "virtually smuggled out of Germany" and that Fassbinder cried the entire time they were driving Salem out of Berlin.[1]

In France, Salem was arrested and jailed. While in custody at a prison in Nîmes in 1977, Salem hanged himself.[9] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] News of Salem's death was kept from Fassbinder for years. He did not learn of his former lover's death until shortly before his own death in 1982.[11] Fassbinder dedicated Querelle (1982), his last film, to Salem.[13]

In popular culture

In 2012, a documentary on Salem's life titled My Name Is Not Ali, premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film was directed by German filmmaker Viola Shafik.[8]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1971The Merchant of Four SeasonsThe Arabcredited as Salem El Heïdi
German title: Händler der vier Jahreszeiten
1972The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kantprops
credited as Salem El Hedi
German title: Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant
Franz's friend television movie
German title: Wildwechsel
1973Eight Hours Don't Make a DayArbeitskollegeminiseries
German title: Acht Stunden sind kein Tag
Tenderness of WolvesFranzösischer Soldat set decorator and props
German title: Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe
World on a WireCastrominiseries
German title: Welt am Draht
1974AliGerman title: Angst essen Seele auf
MarthaHotel guesttelevision movie
1975Like a Bird on a WireBodybuilderGerman title: Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht
Fox and His FriendsSalem the Moroccan uncredited
German title: Faustrecht der Freiheit

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lorenz, Juliane . Schmid, Marion . Gehr, Herbert . Chaos as Usual: Conversations about Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1999. Hal Leonard Corporation. 1-55783-359-1. 5.
  2. Book: Katz, Robert. Love Is Colder Than Death: The Life and Times of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1987. Random House. 0-394-53456-5. 65.
  3. Web site: Harvey . Dennis . 3 September 2012 . My Name Is Not Ali . 27 November 2014 . variety.com.
  4. Book: Watson, Wallace Steadman. Understanding Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Film as Private and Public Art. 1996. Univ of South Carolina Press. 1-57003-079-0. 94.
  5. Book: Finke, Michael C. . Niekerk, Carl . One Hundred Years of Masochism: Literary Texts, Social and Cultural Contexts. 10. 2000. Rodopi. 90-420-0657-9. 191.
  6. Web site: Determining Who Made the Most Movies. Eagan. Daniel. 9 December 2011. smithsonianmag.com. 27 November 2014.
  7. Web site: Fox and His Friends. 2020-12-21. Rotten Tomatoes.
  8. Web site: My Name Is Not Ali (Jannat' Ali): Film Review. DeFore. John. 29 August 2012. hollywoodreporter.com. 27 November 2014.
  9. Book: Ebert, Roger. Roger Ebert

    . Roger Ebert. The Great Movies. 2003. Broadway Books. 0-7679-1038-9. 26.

  10. Web site: FILM/DVD'S; Further From Heaven. Abramovich. Alex. 22 June 2003. The New York Times. 27 November 2014.
  11. Book: Cappello, Mary. Mary Cappello

    . Mary Cappello. Awkward: A Detour. 2007. Bellevue Literary Press. 978-1-934137-01-7. 102.

  12. Book: Scott, Jay. Midnight Matinees: Movies and Their Makers, 1975–1985. 1987. Frederick Ungar Publishing Company. 0-8044-6848-6. 49.
  13. https://archive.org/details/understandingrai0000wats/page/107 Watson 1996 p. 107
  14. Web site: The bitter tears of Fassbinder's women. 8 January 1999. theguardian.com. 27 November 2014.
  15. Book: Peucker, Brigitte . A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 2012. John Wiley & Sons. 978-1-4051-9163-0. 579.
  16. Book: Mayne, Judith . Cinema and Spectatorship. 2002. Routledge. 1-134-96688-1. 169.