Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972)

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the more of his films I see the more I am convinced he is a fucking bona fide genius. In 16 years he made 43 movies. I’ve seen 8 and I’d be hard pressed to come up with one I really did not like. Sure, some are not as great as others, but the good ones are so good that a lesser director could hang their entire reputation on one.  Whereas Fassbinder would have simply done a line, fucked a stranger and immediatley start filming the next one.

In this film the set up is that Petra von Kant and her long suffering (and completely silent) assistant/slave live in a loft space together (the films only location) and Petra (a fashion designer) proves herself to be a bully, a predatory lesbian, lazy, manipulative…you get the picture. When the object of her desire leaves her, Petra goes into a serious downward spiral that seems fairly unending and the story unfold over the course of five acts. Her friends, Mother, daughter all enter and exit at various times, but all of it is overseen by Marleen the assistant.

Now, this could easily be very very boring, but it is expertly shot, the actors movements are more choreographed than directed, with reoccurring shapes and numbers in the framing and the performances are across the board flawless. It is in a word: Gorgeous. And Fassbinder with his love of American melodrama even slides in some references to Valley of the Dolls. Fucking great.