Peter von Kant

Hanna SCHYGULLA and the bitter tears of Peter von Kant

Christmas 2023 is also the 80th birthday of the exceptional German actress Hanna SCHYGULLA. Whether she played for Rainer Werner FASSBINDER Effi Briest, Lili Marleen or Maria Braun (Silver Bear at the BERLINALE 1979), or for directors like Marco FERRERI (Silver Palm in CANNES 1983 for LA STORIA DI PIERA), Kenneth BRANAGH and Francois OZON: This German diva has fascinated her audience for more than 50 years.

In OZON's homage to Fassbinder, which virtually turns his classic THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT on its head, SCHYGULLA gives her version of Fassbinder's mother Liselotte EDER. Already there in the original, SCHYGULLA of course knows all the dramas that are told in fiction. However, she is still going strong and there is no end in sight to this outstanding career.

The French director OZON shows the berserk director Fassbinder (or his alter ego Peter von Kant) in a milder light than the German director Oskar ROEHLER did in 2020 in ENFANT TERRIBLE. Free! The only important thing is that Hanna SCHYGULLA can exude all the warmth in her small role that only she is capable of. It's a shame that she and her colleague, the three-time ACADEMY AWARD nominee Isabelle ADJANI, were unable to walk the red carpet together in February 2022, when PETER VON KANT was the opening film at the BERLINALE, due to Covid 19!

Speaking of ADJANI! The daughter of a German mother can be seen in the role, which was probably intended as a homage to the great Ingrid CAVEN. And then Isabelle ADJANI sings "Everyone kills what he loves" (once sung by Jeanne MOREAU in QUERELLE) in GERMAN! Beautiful to melt away!

"Peter Von Kant"

Peter Von Kant (Dennis Ménochet), a successful, famous director, lives with his assistant Karl (Stefan Crepon), whom he likes to mistreat and humiliate. Through the great actress Sidonie (Isabelle Adjani), he meets and falls in love with Amir (Khalil Ben Gharhia), a handsome young man of modest means. He offers to share his apartment and help Amir break into the world of cinema.

For Fassbinder, the world of fashion was merely a context. Petra's work is not developed or analyzed. We only know that she's successful, that she needs to draw new designs, and that her assistant is there to help her. His work is how he meets others, discovers them, elevates them. Amir reveals himself before the camera, not just to Peter but also to the viewer. Suddenly we see him differently, he becomes an actor, which also makes us doubt his sincerity. Is his story true, or is it merely calculated to move Peter, to stimulate his desire to create? When Peter seizes the camera, his appetite to film Amir is clear. That movement plunges him into the creative desire of Pygmalion for Galatea. Sidonie is also a variation on the theme of Pygmalion and his muse. Peter loves and hates her simultaneously. 'I preferred the actress to the woman', he says. In Fassbinder, the character is merely a confidante; a best friend for Petra to bounce of off. We imagine Peter as a big drama queen, always making too much of things. In the Fassbinder film there's a queer side, with the women overplaying their femininity. Peter is forever drowning in his emotions. He's excessive, overly emphatic. And more often than not, he's high on alcohol or drugs. The trick is to embrace the theatricality of the character. The color and stylization work characterizes his final period on material from his first period.

Peter wants to take Amir in, protect him, be his Pygmalion. Peter falls in love not just with Amir but also with the creature he could shape Amir into. And when Amir ultimately escapes him, Peter is riddled with jealousy. And again, all his theories about freedom in relationships come tumbling down. When Peter meets Amir, there's a sexual fantasy for sure, but he's also found someone who is as alone as he's, whose life is broken. Beyond the physical and sexual attraction. Peter ends up alone, but he has his memories of Amir on film. Exploring the theme of love through the prism of cinema is moving, especially right now, with changing attitudes towards going to the movies, falling theatre attendance, the emergence of platforms. This film "Peter von Kant" is perhaps more optimistic than Fassbinder's. Though Peter ends up alone and isolated, his eyes are open to his films, his imagination, fiction. He films Amir, he records his love. Creation and cinema save Peter.

The film is an adaptation of 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant'. Fassbinder originally wrote the story for the theatre. He made it into a film in 1972 when he was just 25 years old. He had recently discovered the Hollywood melodramas of Douglas Sirk, and used all the theatrical and cinematic artifices and mannerisms at his disposal to film his play about emotional dependence and the impossibility of loving as equals. Fassbinder's body of work, philosophy and vision of the world have always haunted us. His unbelievable creative energy fascinates us. The film centers around one of Fassbinder's passionate love affairs. In 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant', Fassbinder had turned his own unhappy love affair with one of his favorite actors, Günther Kaufmann, into a lesbian love story between a fashion designer and her model. The character of Karl is inspired by Peer Raben, who composed music for Fassbinder's films and was also his assistant. The film trades the world of fashion for the world of cinema and changes the gender of the three main characters. It's a way of betraying Fassbinder the better to find him, in a universal tale of passionate love. The story is more relevant than ever in the way it questions the power dynamics of domination in the creative arts, the Pygmalion/muse relationship.

'Water Drops on Burning Rocks' was consciously very theatrical, with an ironic detachment reminiscent of Fassbinder's cinema. This film wants to inject more empathy into a new version of 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant'. Maybe with age and experience we understand Fassbinder better, the way he sees life, creation and love right down to it's most monstruous aspects. Fassbinder is not a loveable filmmaker. His films are not loveable. But we feel a wide range of emotions towards Peter. To hate him one minute and find him touching, grotesque or endearing the next. He blends the intimate and the political in the most naked of ways, both literally and figuratively. The effect is at once pathetic, sincere and devastating. There's also a dash of boulevard in Fassbinder's work, but it's more Brechtian, there's more distancing. The film wsnts to highlight the emotional power of the text, bring the character's humanity and feelings to the fore, leave behind Fassbinder's little theatre of puppets in favor of flesh and blood characters. The bitter tears in Fassbinder's play and film are artificial, which is what makes them beautiful, both theatrically and cerebrally.

Written by Gregory Mann.

This film works if the original source material is put to one side. Taking ' Peter von Kant ' and putting it into a modern context is in my opinion the best option, and also relates better to what is seen on the screen. I was fascinated by the tackiness of the decor, the mediocrity of the characters and above all a hint at the end of the film that this was all about the death of so-called quality cinema. Perhaps Ozon would disagree, but the scenario is excellent as long as it is put into the category of camp trash. Forget too that it is set in Cologne 1972. The content as I saw it was far more relevant to the trivialities of today's soap operas and mini-series. The final scene in the film made the film work for me, the trashy image of a third-rate actor turned into a ' star, ' and the tears in Peter's eyes are more for the death of the cinema, than the empty passion of a bisexual youth's love. Peter in this film is a director and Ozon must surely have been aware of the worst of them who trade in banalities, and work for the worst of reasons and for the highest amount of money. Denis Menochet is very good as Peter, and Isabelle Adjani as Sidonie as his friend and an actor for him is superficial to the hilt, and she is excellent playing her as such. There are no real feelings in this woman whatsoever. She is all facade, and so is Khalil Ben Garbia as the luxury grabbing rising ' star ' who Peter falls in love with. Hanna Schygulla as Peter's mother shows us the past, and of all the cast she is the most real. Evoking a tenderness and a love for others that surpasses the other's understanding. Then there is Stefan Crepon, extraordinary as the silent servant to Peter's whims and needs, and also his insults. He watches everything and represses his feelings until the penultimate scene. Without a word spoken he acts with his presence alone and his perceptive eyes. For me he was the best actor in the film. As for Ozon's direction it could be seen as being less than his best but seen as a reflection of the worst of today's cinema it is spot on. A film that will endure as a requiem for what we have lost in cinema as an art form, and a reminder in future years of the superficiality of our era.

This is a weak achievement from François Ozon - otherwise a brilliant director. Although the movie is watchable without effort and there is great acting, you may feel that something is missing. The intense dramma that fills the 1972 Fassbinder movie has been turned into grotesque comedy. Both films are strongly theatrical, but the tone in Ozon's movie works less satisfactorily. Stefan Crepon's character Karl, however, is superb.

Where is the main flaw of this film in my opinion? The author was betrayed by the belief that an easy transcript of the Fassbinder mise en scène (changing sexes and adding some comedy) woulf be enough to yield a significant remake.

For instance, what is the reason to maintain the action in the seventies as in the inspiring movie? The only explanation that I am able to find is a wrong feeling that much of the dramatic tension would disappear in a world full of mobile phones. The fact that Petra Von Kant becomes a prisonner and an anxious slave of her land line phone after being abandoned by Karin is naturally inserted in the action of the 1972 version. Extra work would be required to recreate the plot in terms of mobile phones: I believe the result might be innovative and interesting. Instead of harming the script, it could appear as a welcome refreshment. Just think of how many episodes of jealousy, lies and betrayal could be manufactured with resource to contact lists, text messages and what more you can think of.

Not my favorite ozon. The film tries to merge a fictional account of fassbinders own chaotic relationships and the actual plot of petra von kant by changing the gender of Hanna's character and changing petra von kant with peter von kant (who is basically fassbinder himself). This however does not work as good for a number of reasons. More relevant to me is the sense that the power relations between the couple in fassbinders original was more of a professional success kind of thing whils in this one is more like peter von kant cannot deal with his boyfriend free love ethics. That makes the film seem strangelly (considering ozons previous films and the source material) monogamous. I was looking forward to this one because i really liked water drops on burning rocks but i left the theater a little bit disappointed. It is not a bad film by any means it just felt kind of colorless.