Women’s films are movies that I assume are made predominately for women, even though most of these movies are made by men. Having peaked in the 1940’s, the genre continued into the 50’s with the beautifully textured movies of Douglas Sirk, who brought artistic depth to his films. In 1972 Rainer Werner Fassbinder was one of the New German Cinema’s rising stars, and his appreciation for Sirk’s striking films from the 50’s, served as his inspiration for the Lesbian chamber drama, “The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant”.
The movie has an all-female cast that is centered around the emotional struggles of Petra Von Kant (Margit Carstensen in a spectacular performance). Petra is a prominent fashion designer living in and working from her small apartment, along with her live-in assistant Marlene (Irm Hermann). She is a divorcee who suffered a bitter marriage and has one daughter for whom she sends off to boarding schools. She is introduced to the young, beautiful and seemingly shallow Karin (Hanna Schygulla), whom she spontaneously invites to move in with her. They develop a sado-masochistic love affair that is quickly transformed from one extreme to the next.
The themes that predominant in the film are solitude, love, and the power that relationships have over people. Initially, it is Petra who seduces Karin while appearing as the welder of power within their relationship. When she falls deeply in love with Karin, there develops a sudden shift in power that is fascinating.
Within this relationship, as well as some secondary relationships that Petra has with her cousin, mother and daughter, there appears lurking in the background a cruel, disturbing relationship between Petra and her servant Marlene. The screenplay was written by Fassbinder initially as a theatre play and is filled with biting dialogue. Yet the character of Marlene stays mute throughout the film. Marlene is treated harshly by Petra, similar to how a master would treat their personal slave. Marlene continues to remain speechless throughout the movie’s entirety, and her character is essential to the piece that ends the movie. While Petra is a successful fashion designer, in the movie she does not do any of the work that is needed to succeed. Everything dealing with her profession is done by Marlene. From sewing to printing details, Marlene does everything. Petra does not ask Marlene to do things for her. She demands it without a shred of civility. Marlene is always there in each scene. She is like the walls and painting of Petra’s apartment. Unable to speak but silently bearing witness to the acts that cause her pain. She is seemingly silently in love with Petra, who is nothing but cruel in return. I kept asking myself why doesn’t she leave? She is the epitome of masochism and serves as a vehicle for the venting of Petra’s pain.
Filmed in its entirety within Petra’s apartment, the movie feels claustrophobic, as Fassbinder, along with his cinematographer, Michael Ballhaus, allows their camera to flow freely throughout the apartment, as the relationship power struggles play out. The look of the movie is entrancing through a series of long takes and elegant tracking shots. The women are constantly being framed inside the small space of the apartment based on their status within the relationships being shown. The room décor in the apartment is that of a fashion artist obsessed with sex, emphasized by a huge wall mural of a 17th century painting featuring a naked male figure at its center and lifeless mannequins strewn around in sexual postures to each other. This is a fascinating movie to see, just for its visuals.
The movie is also a chamber drama interpretation of a theatre play and, as such, is dialogue-driven. The dialogue is theatrical and superbly acted out. What fascinated me the most, is that while the movie shows us manipulative lesbian relationships played out, the dialog hints that the cause of this is the result of heterosexual relationships gone wrong. In short, this is a women’s film where women are cruel to each other due to the harsh lessons they had to endure from the men who entered their lives. I felt that Fassbinder is trying to tell us that gay relationships become cruel due to the treatment the gay community receives from the straight community. Sado-masochistic relationships are a major theme in the film and drive the movie’s uncompromising ending.
“The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant”, is an intelligently well-acted and fascinating movie that is well worth a look and highly recommended.
1001 Movies before you die 