The filmmaker signs a very personal version of ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant’.
The gender change operation that François Ozon undertakes in ‘Peter von Kant’ with respect to Fassbinder’s canonical work not only affects its protagonist, now a man (an inspired Denis Ménochet), but also the tone of the film, which begins almost like a vaudeville It is a brilliant strategy to separate himself from the original and reverse the Brechtian distancing that the German filmmaker worked from the cold Manneristand to put his figure in the dramatic core of the plot to highlight what was autobiographical about that work.
‘Peter von Kant’ can thus be read as the inverted image of ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant’, although to enjoy the infinite specular games proposed by Ozon it is necessary to know Fassbinder’s biography in depth (here the destructive passion he had with El Hedi ben Salem in real life). Ozon finds a soulmate in Fassbinder – both are fascinated by love and desire as bonds of power and humiliation – which does not mean that he knows how to control the changes of tone of his homage with the same authority as the master of the.
For lovers of the fassbinderian ego
DATA SHEET
Address: Francois Ozon Distribution: Isabelle Adjani, Khalil Gharbia, Hanna Schygulla Country: France, Belgium Year: 2022 Release date: 10-14-2022 Gender: Dramatic comedy Script: Francois Ozon. Construction site: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Duration: 85 minutes
Synopsis: Peter Von Kant, a famous successful director, lives with his assistant Karl, whom he mistreats and humiliates. Thanks to the great actress Sidonie, he meets and falls in love with Amir, a handsome young man of modest origins, to whom he offers to share his house and support him to enter the world of cinema.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
