The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
(West Germany, 1972, 35mm, in German with English subtitles) 

Presented in partnership with Films at the MFAH, the Big Queer Picture Show, and the Houston Cinema Arts Society in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the death of Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s unforgettable melodrama is an unforgiving dissection of the imbalanced relationship between a haughty fashion designer (Margit Carstensen) and a beautiful but icy ingenue (Hanna Schygulla). Based on the filmmaker’s own desperate obsession with a young actor, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant features exquisitely claustrophobic cinematography and full-throttle performances by an all-female cast.