SEX IS THE ULTIMATE WEAPON.
Fashion designer Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen) begins a relationship with the much younger Karin Thimm (Hanna Schygulla), but is once again unable to find what she’s looking for.
Who doesn’t love films where people go at each others’ throats? This one has become a New German Cinema classic, and found admirers through the ages.
Crafting a searing portrait of a woman who is impossible to love, Rainer Werner Fassbinder is aided by a dark sense of humor and a great cast. But some of it is almost unbearably slow and talky.
1972-West Germany. 119 min. Color. Written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Cast: Margit Carstensen (Petra von Kant), Hanna Schygulla (Karin Thimm), Irm Hermann (Marlene), Eva Mattes, Katrin Schaake, Gisela Fackeldey.
Trivia: Original title: Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra Von Kant. Later an opera; remade for Spanish television in 2001 and in France as Peter von Kant (2022).