The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant

1972, West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 124 min, German with English subtitles
With Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, and Katrin Schaake

Introduced by filmmaker Zach Clark

A fashion designer endeavors to maintain a series of volatile relationships while taking on a young, married model as her disinterested muse.

“The entire cast is superb, willingly molding themselves to look and act like the mannequins that litter Petra’s loft, with its huge, bacchanalian mural that hovers in nearly every scene.” ““Michael Scheinfeld, TV Guide

“Not exactly the most comfortable film of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s career, the Sapphic haute couture bitchfest The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is also his most oft-quoted. And it’s easy to see why, what with rhythmic rants like: “˜He stank like a man. The way men stink. What had once had its charms now turned my stomach and brought tears to my eyes.'” ““Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine, September 2003