The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (Criterion Collection)

In the early 1970s, Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Berlin Alexanderplatz) discovered the American melodramas of Douglas Sirk and was inspired by them to begin working in a new, more intensely emotional register. One of the earliest and best-loved films of thisperiod in his career is The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, which balances a realistic depiction of tormented romance with staging that remains true to the directors roots in experimental theater. This unforgettable, unforgiving dissection of the imbalanced relationship between a haughty fashion designer (Margit Carstensen) and a beautiful but icy ingenue (Hanna Schygulla)based, in a sly gender reversal, on the writer-directors own desperate obsession with a young actoris a fully Fassbinder affair, featuring exquisitely claustrophobic cinematography by Michael Ballhaus (The Last Temptation of Christ) and full-throttle performances by an all-female cast.