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Movie Description
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT is a scathing chamber piece that could have only sprung from the mind of German cinema's enfant terrible, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Based on a play by the maniacally prolific writer-director, the film is a hyper-contained tale of obsession and deception. Margit Carstensen plays the titular character, an emotionally unstable fashion designer who becomes obsessed with one of her models, the gorgeous Karin (Hanna Schygulla). What at first appears to be an open and shut case of the powerful dominating the powerless becomes something much more complex as the film builds to its shocking third-act climax.
One of Fassbinder's most widely recognized films, THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT features deeply affecting performances from regular contributors Carstensen (MOTHER KUSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN) and Schygulla (THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN). In adapting his own play for the screen, the devious rebel once again employs his contradictory style, which juxtaposes intense, almost unbearably intimate drama with melodramatic, campy flourishes. The result is an uncomfortable viewing experience, to be sure, but one that tests the boundaries of drama in a way few films ever have.
Film Notes
Fassbinder's film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 1972, and was also screened at 1973 New York Film Festival.
Michael Ballhaus, who would later go on to shoot Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS, won a German Film Award in 1973 for Best Cinematography.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 1973 Chicago Film Festival.
Writer-director Laura Nix used Fassbinder's film as a template for her 2002 drama, THE POLITICS OF FUR.
Industry Reviews
One of the great films of the decade!
A lucid, beautiful work of innovation.
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