For those of you who have seen this movie and were bored to death, I can only say: You have not seen enough Fassbinder! This is one more tale of lost love but Petra could never attain true love because she is a dictator looking for victims to dominant. But, as in many a Fassbinder film, the tide turns against her when she meets Karin. Petra heartily gobbles up Karin's tale of lower-class woe and is soon a pathetic mess. This is an extremely well crafted film and each shot is thoroughly composed. Pay close attention to the positioning of Marlene, to the mannequins and, of course, the penis (symbolizing the male-dominated world of which all woman are victims). The penis even gets the spotlight over Hannah Schygulla at one point. In the Fassbinder world, we are all victims, all someone's prey, because we need love and will jump headlong into the abyss to attain it. We will humiliate and degrade ourselves. Petra becomes more and more like a mannequin as the movie unfolds symbolizing her degradation and emotional turmoil. I gave this movie a 10 because, while not Fassbinder's best, it still beats most of what Hollywood has put out in the last 30 years and many of the movies that have wound up in IMDb's top 250. Lastly, for the uninitiated and the unbelievers, Fassbinder challenges the viewer constantly to look closer and dig deeper into human relationships and whether real, true, lasting love is even attainable. He pushed the limits of what a movie is and what it can achieve, failing several times along the way. The result is some of the most thought-provoking, intense movies ever made.
Review of The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
