11/02/2022 - BERLINALE 2022: In his occasionally amusing, occasionally absurd tribute to Fassbinder, François Ozon wants to have his champagne and drink it

Stefan Crépon and Denis Ménochet in Peter von Kant

Filmmakers paying tribute to the kind of cinema they love the most is a tricky business, as for every Django Unchained, there is a Grindhouse. The good intentions are there, sure, but sometimes love means never having to remake or reboot, and just leaving things as they are.

François Ozon never tried to hide his affection for Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but now he takes it to a whole new level. In his gender-swapping Berlinale opener Peter von Kant [+see also:
trailer
film profile], “loosely” adapted from The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, a fashion designer turns into a film director and a film director turns into one of his most famous protagonists, in a way – one can only imagine the deranged cackling that must have accompanied the whole writing process.

Although that film’s Hanna Schygulla makes a surprising appearance here as well, now it’s not about women any more – it’s about men, yet the stakes are the same: love, desire, the drive to possess the one you care for the most. All in all, it’s stylish, amusing nonsense, at least for those who still remember Fassbinder’s film or even the man himself. But it also feels oddly lifeless at times.

Not through the fault of Denis Ménochet, playing Peter, who actually makes things fun every once in a while, camping it up and demanding champagne every three seconds. Directors usually like it when he is playing it straight, delivering a big, burly mountain of rage, like in Xavier Legrand’s chilling drama Custody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Legrand
film profile]. But while he can be menacing without even trying, here he makes himself feel much smaller, manipulated into a desperate frenzy by a pretty boy half his age (Khalil Gharbia) whom he falls for, his downfall witnessed only by his faithful assistant Karl (Stefan Crépon, amazing, clearly a devoted student of Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks).

That Peter von Kant can’t quite shake off the memory of its predecessor and become something entirely new on its own is probably to be expected – it even takes place in 1972, when the original first premiered. But in its best moments, it feels like an anecdote from a John Waters stand-up, with yells of “shell his shrimp!” and a game Isabelle Adjani, clearly enjoying this odd environment as Peter’s previous muse Sidonie. Dressed up like a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race – which is a good thing – she revels in playing the kind of old-school diva who won’t drink in the morning, but she will snort, darling, and she will wear all the white fur she damned well wants.

For anyone wondering what the point of this film is exactly, well, there is none. But Ozon deserves to have some cinephilic fun after tackling assisted suicide in Everything Went Fine [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and the abuse of children by Catholic priests in By the Grace of God [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: François Ozon
film profile]. As does Ménochet, who also starred in the latter. At this point, the French director works so fast that in a few months, he will probably present another film anyway, and he might also actually be gently poking fun at himself, as Peter not-so-subtly inquires if his stunning new protégé is aware of his impressive oeuvre:
“Have you seen my films?”
“No, there are so many.”
There really are.

Written by François Ozon, Peter von Kant was produced by France's Foz, and co-produced by France 2 Cinema, Scope Pictures and Playtime, which also handles the world sales.

Photogallery 10/02/2022: Berlinale 2022 - Peter von Kant

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François Ozon, Denis Ménochet, Khalil Ben Gharbia
© 2022 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it