With the queer love carousel “Drops on Hot Stones”, François Ozon filmed a play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder in a congenial way back in 2000. The gay chamber play “Peter von Kant” is now a kind of remake of Fassbinder’s masterpiece “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” (1972) with Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla and Irm Hermann in the leading roles. Instead of three women, there are three men, played by Denis Ménochet, Khalil Ben Gharbia and Stefan Crepon. It is of course no coincidence that the eponymous protagonist is strongly reminiscent of Fassbinder from the 1970s.
Peter von Kant was once a great director, but has now passed his prime. He meets the young and attractive actor Amir through his ex-muse Sidonie (Isabelle Adjani). A passionate affair develops between the two, but it soon ends when Amir has become famous through Peter. And so Peter succumbs to a thirst for destruction that his faithful servant Karl and his mother Rosemarie (Hanna Schygulla) cannot stop.
“Peter von Kant” celebrated its premiere in February 2022 at the start of the Berlinale. On September 8th it will open this year’s queer film festival in 13 cities, before it is scheduled to start regularly in German cinemas on September 22nd, distributed by MFA+ FilmDistribution. You can see the German trailer here.
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