The “holy whore” is cinema; like Godard, Fassbinder wishes to strip the medium of its mystique for the sole purpose of continuing to work in it, contempt and all. With production on 1971's Whity stalled, Fassbinder stuck with his castle-in-Spain location and filmed this jagged chronicle of interpersonal confrontations among the remaining film crew, who, as David Thomson wrote, “sweat out their mutual fear and loathing. They are cramped and confined by decor but as restless as a prowling camera, forever being forced into abrasive contact and bitter exchanges. . . . But Holy Whore is also an opportunity for that high style that so often accompanied Fassbinder's sour view of people. The picture is sleazy and pessimistic, but it is also formal and elegant. As insult and humiliation mount, so its poisonous tone breaks out in cold beads of humor.”