Die bitteren Tranen der Petra von Kant / The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) 2 x DVD9, Blu-Ray Criterion Collection
on February 27th, 2016 at 12:18
Based on Fassbinder's original play, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is a work of astonishing visual design, with emotions on an operatic scale, which explores the tortured connections between desire and power.
It unfolds in five scenes, each of which progresses in continuous time, the story of Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen), a successful but arrogant fashion designer in her mid-30s who falls passionately in love with Karin (Hanna Schygulla), a beautiful, cunning young woman who wants a career in modeling. Watching over everything, but never uttering a single word, is the enigmatic Marlene (Irm Hermann), the slavish secretary, maid, and co-designer, whom Petra takes every opportunity to humiliate. After Petra and Karin seal their newfound relationship with a torrid kiss, the film jumps ahead six months to show us their breakup (Karin goes back to her husband) and, for Petra, its devastating aftermath. We meet Petra's daughter Gaby (Eva Mattes) and mother (Gisela Fackeldey), again see her catty friend Sidonie (Katrin Schaake), and discover the new direction of her relationship with Marlene.
Although this remains one of Fassbinder's most controversial films – in part for its severely limited depiction of lesbian (more accurately, bisexual women's) lives – it is also one of his most powerful, for both its volcanic emotional force and the unparalleled visual imagination it displays.
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