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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
1972 | Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"What I love most about this film is its scale, its claustrophobic shots, its intensely glamorous women coming in and out of a single room, and its acute exploration of a single woman’s downfall. We’re seeing a pattern here in these movies; I struggle with anxiety, I struggle with depression, I often feel crazy dealing with my own emotions and the emotions of others, and I am continually fascinated by cinematic representations of women dealing with the same things. Petra von Kant scrapes at the bottom of what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a successful woman, what it means to be a woman in love and have all of these things and yet feel worthless. It’s also about a life in fashion, which is something that I’ve lived. There’s just a tension in that film between interiority and exteriority, embodied so well by those hyper-stylized shots and the cinematography. The film articulates a very specifically feminine kind of anguish that Fassbinder captures so well."

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Killing Beauties
Killing Beauties
Pete Langman | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Killing Beauties is about the female spies (She-Intelligencers - isn’t it funny how they could make even that sound like an insult 🤔) who worked for the exiled Charles Stuart during Cromwells reign. Charles Stuart himself sends two female spies back to England to turn Cromwell’s Secretary of State, John Thurloe, into their accomplice using their feminine wiles and training. This is actually based on the true story of two female spies - not something that any of us are usually taught in history lessons at school (perhaps due to their methods!). This is a story with heaps of subterfuge and betrayal, and women who are determined to do the best job they can for their King and their secret society. It was quite amusing in places, which was a little light relief in an otherwise tense story. There’s loads of great historical detail too - think sights, smells and sounds.

It’s a really fun book - fast-paced and with a feeling of danger. I loved it!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising the book, and for Pete Langdon for commenting along with us readers!