Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant) (1972)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Matheus C

  
  It's incredible how Fassbinder was able to expertly use one single set and frame it in all ways possible to please his deliciously black humour in order to tell this masochistic story of an obsessive fashion designer and her women.

• Anthony L

  
  My favourite Fassbinder film so far by a mile! It takes a good script and great actors to make a film that is essentially shot in just one room feel exciting. Fassbinder really arrives with this film, so to do his regular actresses. Margit Carstensen is beautifully loathsome as Petra… More
  My favourite Fassbinder film so far by a mile! It takes a good script and great actors to make a film that is essentially shot in just one room feel exciting. Fassbinder really arrives with this film, so to do his regular actresses. Margit Carstensen is beautifully loathsome as Petra von Kant and Hanna Schygulla plays innocent but poisonous masterfully. Funnily enough though, it is Irm Hermann who doesn't utter a single word throughout the whole film that really steals the show as the silent and mistreated house-maid. The last scene is brutal and brilliant and totally captures what I love about Fassbinder's films. Melodrama doesn't get much better than this! Highly recommended!

• Eric B

  
  "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant" may be dull, but it's a tribute to director R.W. Fassbinder's mise en scene that it's not even duller. With just six actresses exchanging stilted dialogue on a single set for over two hours, this is not a movie for… More
  "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant" may be dull, but it's a tribute to director R.W. Fassbinder's mise en scene that it's not even duller. With just six actresses exchanging stilted dialogue on a single set for over two hours, this is not a movie for popcorn-munchers. The opening credits are layered over a shot of two cats dawdling on a dim stairway. From there, the camera rolls into a bedroom. And stays there. Until the film is over. Luckily, the room has quite a few arresting features, including a 17th-century mural reproduced on the wall, an eerie assortment of nude mannequins and white, fluffy carpet that looks like dog hair. And then there are the costumes. The title character shifts through several wild dresses, robes and wigs (one revealing, pearls-draped outfit almost defies description), and the supporting players are decked in purple, metallic gold, lemon-yellow and more. Fur and feather trim: everywhere. Petra Von Kant (Margit Carstensen) is a successful fashion designer and the soggy epitome of a mean drunk. She lives with another designer named Marlene (Irm Hermann). Marlene waits on Petra like a servant, never says a word (her eyes speak volumes) and seems to be on the losing end of a dominant/submissive relationship gone stale. Petra's cousin, mother and daughter serve as secondary foils, but her most crucial nemesis is Karin (the effortlessly sexy Hanna Schygulla), a young, fickle model who becomes Petra's lover during the course of the film. Clearly, Marlene is not pleased. The story does not advance much further than this -- the remaining plot developments barely require two sentences to describe. And in case the lesbian theme excites you, be forewarned that your fantasies will go ungratified. Instead, the action mostly dwells on the self-loathing Petra firing abuse at her visitors and phone-callers. Carstensen carries the film on her bony shoulders and does give a remarkable performance, but the tensions between her and her coterie won't be enough to keep most viewers engaged.

• Anastasia B

  
  A superb lesson on composition and symbolism, this film by Fassbinder is an essay on human relationships, lust and love. Shot in a single room with a cast of only six actresses, "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant" impresses with every choice of the director, from the… More
  A superb lesson on composition and symbolism, this film by Fassbinder is an essay on human relationships, lust and love. Shot in a single room with a cast of only six actresses, "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant" impresses with every choice of the director, from the mannequins in the background to the use of Poussin's painting ("Midas and Bacchus") and the dresses Petra wears as statements. The only problem is that the discussion of emotions tires the audience if they don't pay attention to the subtext and the all-pervasive irony of it, if they miss what is being said with the camera and not only with words. What Petra von Kant accuses her former husband of, she is guilty of herself- it is evident in the way she treats Marlene, her obedient maid. And that's about all you need to know to want to watch this film...