That's what Katzelmacher is: a punishment, via art, leveled at all the ignorant, egotistical racists Fassbinder had known.

I've described the style of the film in some detail because it is so hypnotic and eventually so comic.

There's less plot than usual, but the portraiture already seems firmly in place.

Fassbinder’s choice to cage them in such dreary settings is effective, with fancy camerawork and lavish production designs disposed of in the name of a style that is perfectly aligned with his thematic intentions.