Marlene's pistol and Brady's rule: Elements of mystification and indeterminacy in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Die 'bitteren Tranen der Petra von Kant'

This article attempts to explore unrealistic features of Rainer Werners Fassbinders most mannered and formalist film from a fresh perspective. Whereas Fassbinder scholarship has hitherto tended to see the work as an early example of the authors imposition of Brechtian anti-illusionistic distancing devices upon melodramatic material, it is argued here that many of the elements of stylisation and formalism in this particular film are not being deployed for Brechtian reasons. A number of key elements of mystification and indeterminacy are explored to suggest that the film is more enigmatic than many interpreters have suggested; and these elements, which were rarely present in the original stage version of Die bitteren Tranen der Petra von Kantare shown to create a series of unresolved enigmas and general mood of eeriness. Particular attention is paid to the visual importance of dolls, tailors dummies and Marlenes pistol, as well as the body-language in certain sequences. The central relationship between Petra von Kant and Marlene is re-examined within this framework.