Like THE GODFATHER, CITIZEN KANE, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and a few others,
THE BLUE ANGEL is one of the great films of all time, simply because
everything works.
Marlene Dietrich is amazing, probably never as good again, as her Lola
is the quintessential woman mixed with Circe, Delilah and all things
different and apart. As she leads men to their doom she sings honestly
that she "just can't help it," yet men follow her willingly. Emil
Jannings as Professor Rath gives what, in my estimation, is the greatest
performance by an actor on film, first as a martinet, then a man finding
first love, then a devoted married man, then a cuckold, a clown and,
finally a broken, destroyed man. (The moment where he wakes in Lola's
bed and finds delight in Lola's doll is one of the great miniatures in
any film.) To see Kurt Gerron's powerful, nuanced performance as the
leader of the rag tag cabaret troop is heartbreaking when you know that
the perished ina gas chamber only a few years later.) Director Josef Von
Sternberg leads the proceedings through staid classrooms, down twisting
expressionist streets, to the tawdry inside of "The Blue Angel", and
finally, through the labyrinth of Rath's life leading inexorably to his
downfall. Symbolism, from a dead canary to the noose like collars
clowns wear, abound. And oh the songs by Freidrich Hollander! (Kander
and Ebb must have watched this film many times before writing CABARET as
so many parts of that production...including the gift of a
pineapple..are seen here.)
I have seen this film again and again and every time it is fresh as it
was the first time, and, I would suppose, as it was in 1929. What a
great, great film!!!
THE BLUE ANGEL is one of the great films of all time, simply because
everything works.
Marlene Dietrich is amazing, probably never as good again, as her Lola
is the quintessential woman mixed with Circe, Delilah and all things
different and apart. As she leads men to their doom she sings honestly
that she "just can't help it," yet men follow her willingly. Emil
Jannings as Professor Rath gives what, in my estimation, is the greatest
performance by an actor on film, first as a martinet, then a man finding
first love, then a devoted married man, then a cuckold, a clown and,
finally a broken, destroyed man. (The moment where he wakes in Lola's
bed and finds delight in Lola's doll is one of the great miniatures in
any film.) To see Kurt Gerron's powerful, nuanced performance as the
leader of the rag tag cabaret troop is heartbreaking when you know that
the perished ina gas chamber only a few years later.) Director Josef Von
Sternberg leads the proceedings through staid classrooms, down twisting
expressionist streets, to the tawdry inside of "The Blue Angel", and
finally, through the labyrinth of Rath's life leading inexorably to his
downfall. Symbolism, from a dead canary to the noose like collars
clowns wear, abound. And oh the songs by Freidrich Hollander! (Kander
and Ebb must have watched this film many times before writing CABARET as
so many parts of that production...including the gift of a
pineapple..are seen here.)
I have seen this film again and again and every time it is fresh as it
was the first time, and, I would suppose, as it was in 1929. What a
great, great film!!!