The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Ballhaus has served as director of photography for many of Martin Scorsese’s films, from 1985’s After Hours to last year’s Oscar-winner The Departed. In the 1970s, however, he was part of the closely knit family of actors and crew that surrounded the legendary Fassbinder. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is a singular cinematic vision and a classic of Fassbinder’s middle period. Based on his own play, it is a tortured melodrama that takes place entirely in the ornate and claustrophobic bedroom of a desperate and despairing fashion designer.