A turning point in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s brief, but unbelievably prolific career, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant marked his shift from Godard-inspired enfant terrible to Sirkian romantic. His characters were no longer to deliver dry polemics, but heave, cry, and laugh with implosive energy. His abusive fashion designer Von Kant distills Fassbinder’s manifest obsessions with restless creative appetites, as her life soars and sinks on the affections of a vapid young model. Shot with insane visual acuity by the iconic Michael Ballhaus, this film is an art house pillar and one of the most memorable creations from the German provocateur.
“A brilliantly directed and performed psychodrama.” – Michael Scheinfeld, TV Guide
“The set and costume design and the hothouse atmosphere represent so much high-camp gloss; but once again this careful stylization enables Fassbinder to balance between parody of an emotional stance and intense commitment to it. He films in long, elegant takes, completely at the service of his all-female cast, who are uniformly sensational.” – Time Out
