The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant - 1972 - 3 Stars

Actors: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla
Director: Werner Fassbinder

Note: Minor Spoilers Ahead

Roger Ebert's review of Gerry mentions a quote from a film big-shot who told him, "Roger, if nothing has happened by the end of the first reel, nothing is going to happen." This is certainly true of The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, which is the stereotypical 'foreign film' - dialogue-loaded, action-light, meandering, and certainly dull (at times). After fifteen minutes, I had realized that the 'action' of the film had only taken place in a single room, and was convinced that the rest of the film would also take place there - spoiler alert, but I turned out to be correct.

Perhaps it's my gambling nature, but the film feels like a bet - can you have a 2 hour film whose action only takes place in one room, and still make it interesting? The answer is, 'Sort of', and I think Fassbinder would have a push with whomever he made the bet. Fassbinder does manage to make several interesting characters out of this non-action, including the titular Von Kant around whom the film revolves, but a movie that's only dialogue and in a single room had better accomplish that much. It's an intriguing experiment, no doubt, but the film just has too many scenes that lose our attention for me to rate it any higher than 3 stars.