This lovely experience in meticulously constructed claustrophobia is my latest foray into the Fassbinder oeuvre. Though Mr. Fassbinder asserts his presence through exquisite framing and staging, within the camera's view, there is nary a man to be seen. In the Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, the titular character has set herself apart from men, and for the most part, from humanity, building a confining cave of longings and tensions.
