The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)

Highly Recommended

West Germany

Feature Film

Original Title: Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant

Writer/Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Cinematographer: Michael Ballhaus

Cast: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Eva Mattes, Gisela Fackeldey, Irm Hermann

Petra von Kant, an abusive, self-indulgent fashion designer, who has recently suffered through a divorce, takes up with a beautiful younger woman, who herself has just separated from her husband, but before long their affair comes to an acrimonious ending, leading to the eponymous lament, in Fassbinder’s painfully visceral chamber piece, which features a number of outstanding performances and some incredibly expressive mise en scène. Iain.Stott