Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Lack of good storyline.

Brilliant and touching

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

***User-reviewer Alice Liddel ("A searing reminder of what a galvanising experience cinema could be.", Alice Liddel from dublin, ireland 26 March 2001) has an excellent review. Also, Markboulos ("Fassbinder at his finest! Cinema at its finest!", markboulos from Brooklyn, NYC, 3 February 2000) captures the film's quality. Shane James Bordas ("Key Film From The German Master", Shane James Bordas from United Kingdom, 22 August 2006) describes the film's origins. Finally, Lexo-2 ("Great film, glad I don't live there", Lexo-2 from Dublin, Ireland, 1 May 1999) has a nice summary.***"The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972, Rainer Werner Fassbinder​ ), a ladies-only slumber party​, is a slow-paced masterpiece from the renowned German filmmaker. Adapted from Fassbinder's own play, it is set in a single apartment. It consists entirely of conversation that is spoken by world-weary characters. While it will likely bore many casual film-goers, it is a sublime achievement for those willing to stick it out. "Bitter Tears" is very profound and informs on the human condition in various ways.The titular character, Petra (Margit Carstensen), is a celebrity fashion designer. Petra is used to emotionally dominating the people who surround her. Having been married twice before, Petra explains to her visiting cousin Sidonie (Kartin Schaake) that men now repulse her and women are currently her romantic gender of choice. ("Bitter Tears" shows us a lesbian triangle which seems unusually bold for 1974.) Petra employs a silent servant named Marlene (Irm Hermann) that she continually mistreats. Because Marlene is obviously in love with Petra, her quiet suffering is mesmerizing to observe. (BTW, Fassbinder leaves two essential questions about Marlene unresolved: 1) Is she a mute or just unable to speak in Petra's presence? 2) Is she entirely or partly responsible for Petra's professional success? Leaving Marlene's relationship with Petra ambiguous is an example of Fassbinder's elite skill at story-telling.) Through Sidonie, Petra meets attractive Karin (Hanna Schygulla). Karin is separated from her husband. Petra immediately falls for her. She tells Karin she has a future as a fashion model. When Karin arrives for a second visit, Petra assumes her customary role as sexual predator. While treating Marlene miserably, Petra tries to seduce the seemingly confused Karin. Unexpectedly, Karin is the real shark. We learn she is taking advantage of Petra. Karin will ultimately stick an emotional dagger through Petra's soul, rejecting her and torturing her before revealing she is returning to her husband. Realizing the consequences of opening one's heart at the wrong place and time, Petra falls apart. On her birthday, Petra has a nervous breakdown which is witnessed by Sidonie, along with Petra's Mother and Daughter.While interpretations of this film vary, Fassbinder is said to be showing how a group of people can all simultaneously reside in their own mental prisons. He's also employing substitution on many levels. The characters here are all drawn from Fassbinder's relationships with his recurring cast members as well as his conservative mother. As a celebrity designer, Petra is an obvious stand-in for Fassbinder himself. The silent Marlene is regarded as representing the audience early, and later, Karin. (Fassbinder reviewers have noted in other films he uses female characters as substitutes for real-life men he knows.)Visually, Fassbinder is electric. He is always on point with his imagery; even though this is a low budget production. On the apartment wall there is "a large reproduction of Poussin's Midas and Bacchus (c.1630), which depicts naked and partially clothed men (Wikipedia)." As Petr describes her sexual preference for women to Sidonie, the audience will have little difficulty in discovering the (sleeping) endowment of Poussin's central nude male in the background. Petra's words and the Poussin figure's little man seems to be Fassbinder describing his own homosexuality. Even though a homo-erotic painting is often present, and a lesbian triangle is in the story, "Bitter Tears" has enough mild eroticism for every individual audience member, regardless their preferred sleeping arrangement. ("Bitter Tears" arrives decades before the Internet confirms the interest hetero guys have in watching lesbians.)Fassbinder favorite Hanna Schygulla is adorable as the femme fatale. Meanwhile, Margit Carstensen (Petra), also attractive, turns in a superb performance as Petra. (She won awards in Germany, but inexplicably she was not internationally recognized.)The origin of "Bitter Tears" is legendary. Fassbinder is said to have written the screenplay on an 11-hour plane trip from Germany to L.A. Upon landing, he immediately ordered his film crew (which traveled with him) to return to Germany where they made it in 10 days. This is all astonishing because many reviewers regard "Bitter Tears" as Fassbinder's crowning achievement.Cinephiles with some patience should not miss this Fassbinder classic.

During his 37 years on Earth, the great German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder made a total of 41 films in his 13 year film career. Not counting the countless plays, TV series and acting gigs he did, his output was ferocious, much like his personal life. There have been many things written and spoken about Fassbinder - that he was anti-Semitic, tyrannical, misanthropic and homophobic (even though he was an open homosexual) - yet no-one will deny his raw genius and his place as a driving force in the New German Cinema movement. He made many fantastic films, and I don't think I would be alone is stating that he was at his best when dealing with melodrama, and more specifically, complex female characters.Possibly his best known film, Fear Eats The Soul, is widely considered his best, but I feel that The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant shows Fassbinder at the top of his game. He usually worked with the same troupe of actors (Brigitte Mira, Kurt Raab, Karlheinz Bohm amongst others) and here he has two of his finest - Margit Carstensen as the powerful yet desperate fashion designer Petra Von Kant, and Hanna Schygulla (who played the title character in Fassbinder's other masterpiece The Marriage Of Maria Braun) as her newly appointed love interest, Karin. In my opinion, Carstensen is one of the finest actresses in cinema history, along with Bette Davis and Liv Ullmann, and is never better here. She is dominating and sadistic, yet when she opens up to her cousin Sidonie (Katrin Scaake) or her new lesbian lover Karin, she is tragic, broken and lonely. It is a tour-de-force on display, as her character changes as much as she changes her hairpieces.Petra is residing in her apartment when we first meet her, awoken by fellow designer Marlene (Irm Hermann) who stays with her. We quickly learn that Petra sadistically treats Marlene like a slave, ordering her to bring her things and even orders her to slow-dance at one point. When she is joined by her cousin, Petra reveals how her past relationships with men have ended in disaster and resentment, and that men will ultimately leave her empty and disappointed. She is introduced to Karin, a timid model who Petra visibly becomes interested in, and eventually infatuated by. As Petra and Karin start a seemingly cold and difficult relationship, Petra's jealousy and fear of loneliness comes to the fore as she struggles to hold herself together. In one particularly powerful scene, Petra sits motionless on the edge of the bed after being told by Karin how none-existent her feelings really are, and a single tear rolls slowly down her face. Her face is as white as porcelain and as motionless as a doll, as the realisation hits her that her situation is as fake as the mannequins she decorates with her creations.Adapted from his own play, Fassbinder never moves the action outside Petra's claustrophobic apartment, instead allowing the pent up feelings to explode within the confines of one room. The screenplay, acting, cinematography and music is absolute perfection, and in my opinion this is Fassbinder's crowning achievement. The final scene, which I won't reveal, is in turn hilarious and heartbreaking. If you are as spellbound as I am by the acting talents of Carstensen, then I would recommend both Fear Of Fear and Satan's Brew (both Fassbinder) to see the full range of her ability. Possibly the finest film of the New German Cinema movement.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Some abstract painters who don't have the patience and dedication to learn how to paint correctly and resort to modern painting. And try to prove it's a better way to express themselves.The performance and directing have nothing to be desired. I can't relate to Petra, who whines and moans for no particular reason.It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

"The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant" is a powerful, unflinching view of a love affair gone wrong. Though Petra is not the most sympathetic of characters (note the constant berating of her mute personal assistant throughout the film, which becomes even more intense when Hanna Schygulla's character leaves), one can't help but sympathize with her a little by the end. Not stagy at all, the actors all perform in a believable way, as though they were not actors at all but real people caught in these situations (note Mrs. von Kant's incredulousness when she discovers Petra's love affair with another woman). Excellent, but certainly not for all tastes. This is an extremely claustrophobic film; does Petra ever leave her apartment? Certainly, it's the best Fassbinder film I've seen so far, though. I'm glad I saw it, as I nearly gave up on him.