Word: petra
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Fassbinder dares in different but equally bold ways. Instead of seeking stories in the strange and the exotic, he finds the strange and exotic in stories he knows. In one of his finest films, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), he evokes intense drama out of what would seem to be a supremely undramatic situation: three lesbians enclosed in a small, claustrophobic apartment who do nothing but talk, talk, talk...
Cataloguing the weaknesses of this production would be the easy thing to do. Better perhaps to start with its highlight: a charismatic vignette by Patty Woo as the devilishly sensuous maid. Uninhibited and secure in her own sexuality, Petra serves as a foil to the other characters, who are trapped in false unions and unable to heed their hearts' urgings. Woo's eloquent rendition of "The Miller's Son," a defense of her free and easy lifestyle and a prayer for future stability, is her only moment in the spotlight. But the energy and excitement she brings to this number...
...BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT. A morose lesbian paces her apartment, suffering the inconstancy of her lover. Since she is a fashion designer by profession, there are a number of mannequins in the apartment, and it is the inspiration of Director-Writer R.W. Fassbinder to have his heroine come to look more and more like one of her dummies. The Platters, the Walker Broth ers and Giuseppe Verdi furnish the music, the art director furnishes the flat-outside of which the movie never strays-and Fassbinder furnishes still another reason why West German movies are regarded with as much...
...group regards them as Scripture, which makes them a major barrier to any common Bible. One N.A.B. footnote specifies that Peter himself is the "rock" on which the church is founded; Protestants consider the verse a play on words in which Jesus renamed the apostle Petros because of the petra (rock) of his confession of faith...
...very hard work to get the school figures perfect," sighed Peggy; her practice schedule for almost a year had consisted of five-hour workouts six days a week. It all seemed worthwhile when the judges added up their scores: at the end of the compulsory figures, Peggy was leading Petra Burka by a fat 48 points...