109 of 1001 Movies: The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)

Anytime a Walkers Brothers' album is pulled out you know it's about to get strange. German director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, brings together a story that is sort of heartbreaking, and strange though, and even though it is mostly set in one woman's bedroom it oddly keeps your interest despite the possible boring scenario it is put in. With characters that are strange enough to pop though you will continue to watch.

Petra Von Kant is a fashion designer looking to become more picky about how she approaches her work, and her tough past with her husband has caused her now to only date women as she seems to detest men, but she may have a reason to detest women as well after she meets Karin. Karin is a young model who is very free, and is also married. That doesn't stop Petra from falling for her though, and offering her a place to stay while in Europe away from her husband in Australia. When Karin reunites with her husband and leaves her this leaves Petra in disarray and hysterical.


The pain of Petra is actually hard to watch. Anyone who has ever been broken up with can relate to the exact feelings she is expressing as she breaks down especially her waiting by the phone hoping Karin will care enough to call her on her birthday. The more time that passes with phone calls from others other than Karin though the more crazier she becomes. The thing is the people are so bizarre it can keep you at bay from wanting to relate to them.

The one character that remains in the background the whole time is Marlene. We think we she has been mistreated by Petra this whole time. The twist at the end adds extra oddness to the movie, and reveals a lot about her character though she hasn't spoken the whole time. Karin though is one you wish you understood better. She is so mean, but there is no explanation for it except that she is young, and just experimenting. This movie is also highly about sex, but there is never a sexual scene shown in the movie. It's what most people wish movies would do as we don't need something to be so graphic to get what is going on, and this one stays with that. For those hoping for hardcore Lesbian scenes there are none.

Also, this movie features no men in the cast. It is a cast of all women. They all seem to have deep associations with men that either have left them deeply scarred, or they desire to return to though. The entire movie is also set in the house of Petra's, and mostly in her bedroom. For a movie that is 2 hours and doesn't jump a lot to different settings it does stay interesting.

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant won't be for everyone as it is quite odd, and the characters are difficult to try to relate to. At the end though you may be questioning what it is that this movie is trying to say about women. They all seem very disturbed, and bad off in their own way, and no one seems to be living a healthy lifestyle despite whether they think they are happy or not.

Rating 7 of 10.