Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

lasttimeisaw A Golden Bear contender in 1972, this film precisely exemplifies the expedient filmmaking mode of the ever-so-prolific Fassbinder, allegedly its script was written during a trans-Atlantic 12-hour flight, and shot in ten days with an all-female cast from his troupe, six characters altogether, maximally exploits its single location, the bedroom of our protagonist, Petra von Kant (Carstensen), a successful fashion designer in Bremen, to concentrate extremely on a succession of episode mapping out her emotional slough.To visually offset the movie's inbred austerity, Fassbinder has reproduced the painting of MIDAS AND BACCUS from the leading classic French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin, to occupy entirely one side of the wall in Petra's bedroom, which also underlines our early pursuit of the destructive conjoined twins: money and pleasure.Other characters are Marlene (Hermann, performing with heightened and subservient silence), Petra's assistant, whom she treats in a sadistic fashion which will eventually apply itself as a pleasantly unconventional ending; Karin (Schygulla), a young model whom Petra nurtures her love with but eventually deserts her; then in lesser importance, there are her lady friend Sidonie (Schaake), her mother Gabriele (Mattes) and her teenage daughter Valerie (Fackeldey).Extensively utilising single camera shot and deep focus, constantly alters the compositions to strive for a feeling of fluidity, purposefully lavishing Petra and Karin with kitschy wardrobe and wig selections (Petra is firstly introduced in her makeup-free plainness, and it is the cosmetics- applying process brings about her allure), and timely playing oldies from The Platters and The Walker Brother, an ending piece of UN DÌ, FELICE, ETEREA from Verdi's LA TRAVIATA, Fassbinder is indeed well versed in lubricating the film's rigid structure of a theatrical nature, he wrote it as a play first, and let the vagaries of a woman's sentiments run the show.In the beginning, Petra has just recovered from a failed marriage, and is spurned by the cheap sympathy from Sidonie's condolence and rebuffs the latter's advice of a more pragmatical view on love and marriage, aka. humility, she touts her implacable resolution that "love must be beautiful", she simply cannot endure lies. But in her tentative move to woo Karin, she gracefully throws concept of humility to impress a lesser sophisticated mind, and when she is hurt by Karin's blunt frankness (a black man with a huge cock), she pleads her to lie to her, a sardonic betrayal of her pride and principles. The subsequent fits of fickleness and servitude barely can erase a feeling of fatigue born out of the treacly theatrics and broad-stroke tediousness, a straightforward nervous breakdown should have arrived sooner than later.Speaking of performances, Carstersen's soliloquy-prone grandstanding never totally transcend into something ravishing to behold, maybe because Petra is a far cry from a character we can easily project sympathy onto, a deeply-flawed diva's sado-masochistic narcissism is psychologically overbearing for schadenfreude. Schygulla, on the contrary, retains something brutally honest in Karin, cast a distinguished shadow of self-awareness against Petra's maudlin temperament; and Hermann conveys Marlene, a permanent on-looker in the maelstrom of melodrama, with expressionless glare and stare, she robotic-ally types, eavesdrops, serves until dissolves into a subconscious existence simmering with suppressed orgasm, only until Petra finishes with that, Fassbinder's intricately personal and uninhibitedly experimental psycho-drama dares to close its curtain.

Stanley-Becker This movie is reputedly an autobiographical fictionalization of Fassbinder's own "menage" between himself, his lover, and his secretary. While the homosexuality is retained the gender is transformed to female.Petra von Kant, is, like Fassbinder a product of upper middle class circumstances. She is artistic and ambitious. She is a rising force in the German Fashion "couture" and the movie opens with a bibulous Petra waking up late, and behaving in a superior and demanding manner towards her submissive and obedient secretary/design assistant/maid, the long suffering Marlene. Petra's selfish and narcissistic character is thus immediately established. The viewer is left in no doubt concerning her sybaritic, pampered demanding nature.The next scene features a visit from her friend the Baroness Sidonie, whom she hasn't seen in years. The talk is focused on Petra,s failed marriage and Sidonie's curiosity about the underlying reasons for its failure. Petra claims that her husband resented her success and could not chauvinistically come to terms with her financial dominance. At no time does she refer to sexual orientation and gender preference as factors.Enter the Baroness's young and beautiful friend Karin. Immediately Petra becomes interested and seductively attracted towards her. In classic bourgeois style, she flatters and tempts the impoverished Karin with her wealth and connections {"I'll make you my model"}. Karin, a heterosexual embraces bisexuality and embarks on an affair with Petra.In the background throughout the entire movie Poussin's "Midas and Bacchus" reproduced as a backdrop against an entire wall looms symbolically over the unfolding drama.We are now moved on in time. Petra is now hopelessly infatuated with Karin, who, although she is affectionate towards Petra, her heterosexuality precludes her reciprocating. What Petra desires is a grand passion, which,like a moth being drawn to a flame is then consumed by it. The requited love that Petra insists upon, remains unsatisfied. The situation comes to a head when Karin's husband returns and Karin walks out of her relationship with Petra and rejoins him.We now have the core of this tale as Petra fragments in agonistic convulsion. A fantastic sequence of humiliation and degradation, emotionally convincing, is magnificently pulled off by Margarit Carstensen who plays Petra and also by Fassbinder's tight direction. The scene takes place on a shaggy long piled white carpet,{fashionable in the 70's} a bare room and the backdrop painting. An utterly masterful and absorbing display of emotion at the edge. Phew, what an affective scene, leaving the viewer quite exhausted. After the catharsis of all the "descent into hell", Petra recovers, seemingly cured of the "mad love", and supposedly, through the pain and suffering, she now offers her long suffering slave cum assistant, a new relationship - her freedom from servitude, and from now on a partnership of equality. This political resolution was taken by this particular viewer {that is, myself} with a pinch of salt, as I find it highly optimistic on Fassbinder's part, that Petra would so easily embrace a new personaThere is very little action in this movie but the authenticity is riveting. Sure, it's an Art Movie, stagey, with the dialogue telling most of the story, but it's a great movie nevertheless.

InpraiseofFolly During the entire movie , I kept having the distinct feeling that something very important was being transmitted throughout the movie and yet I was unable to capture that message. The camera lingers meaningfully on certain subjects in a few scenes which lead the audience's attention askew( or perhaps just mine ) from the main story , and yet never really justifies the diversion. No doubt because it was originally a play , the acting is really over the top and dramatic to the point of cheesiness , which might have been intentional characterization . The character study is amazing for Petra , however. Her psychological portrait is intriguing but it's not enough to save this tedious movie.

Progbear-4 "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant" is a powerful, unflinching view of a love affair gone wrong. Though Petra is not the most sympathetic of characters (note the constant berating of her mute personal assistant throughout the film, which becomes even more intense when Hanna Schygulla's character leaves), one can't help but sympathize with her a little by the end. Not stagy at all, the actors all perform in a believable way, as though they were not actors at all but real people caught in these situations (note Mrs. von Kant's incredulousness when she discovers Petra's love affair with another woman). Excellent, but certainly not for all tastes. This is an extremely claustrophobic film; does Petra ever leave her apartment? Certainly, it's the best Fassbinder film I've seen so far, though. I'm glad I saw it, as I nearly gave up on him.