Peter von Kant

François Ozon, one of the most original auteurs of contemporary cinema, repays the debt of gratitude to his master, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. However, the French provocateur would not be himself if he just paid the German a classic tribute. Peter von Kant is a paradoxical blend of a nonchalant paean and caricature tinged with tenderness. Ozon begins the multi-layered game with the life and work of Fassbinder at the level of the construction of the main character. Hopelessly in love with a much younger, handsome actor, the filmmaker has much in common with the desperate fashion designer from The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. Overwhelmed by pressure, absurdly egocentric and lost in everyday life, the man is also an incredible likeness of Fassbinder. In Peter von Kant, Ozon intertwines fiction and reality like an admirable maestro. However, it is difficult to resist the impression that the director of Swimming Pool wants something more than just to display stylistic dexterity. Is the French master admitting between the lines that it is impossible to talk convincingly about suffering if one has not yet shed buckets of bitter tears?