My current obsession is Douglas Sirk. After Written on the Wind and All That Heavens Allows I'm js blown away by his film-making. Savagely satirical, delightfully ironic, wonderfully romantic, splendidly camp, fascinatingly arty, gloriously trashy, his movies are all this and more.
Who else loves Douglas Sirk's movies?
Douglas Sirk
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benwhowell
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"How do you tell a child that she was born to be hurt?&
I love Douglas Sirk movies! Especially "Written On The Wind," "All That Heaven Allows," "Magnificent Obssesion" and "Imitation Of Life." All these "repressed" characters surrounded by beautiful exteriors and interiors (with "heavenly" scores from Frank Skinner and "magnificent" cinematography from Russell Metty) and melodrama that just won't quit!
Watching his movies makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.
I also love the recent homage from Todd Haynes, "Far From Heaven." Haynes really, really gets Sirk.
Watching his movies makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.
I also love the recent homage from Todd Haynes, "Far From Heaven." Haynes really, really gets Sirk.
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jdb1
Same here. We made fun of those films as corny and overblown at first viewing, but I find I really like them now.JohnM wrote:I recall that as a teenager, my mother and I laughed our heads off at Written on the Wind. I think it's time to revisit it!
The stories are like myths (in the iconic, archetype, Carl Jung/Joseph Campbell sense), and the movies themselves are gorgeous to look at. (If only Dennis Haysbert had been around in Sirk's day!)
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Ray Faiola
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I have a gorgeous 16mm dye-transfer print of WRITTEN ON THE WIND. When I ran it for our monthly screening crowd, they were totally blown away. The final scene with Dotty and the model derrick was too much for them to take. Picture also has a great score by Frank Skinner and Malone's "getting off" scene to "Temptation" is totally outrageous.
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The voice of doom here! I hope this doesn't get me in trouble because Sirk is the one who started my problems on TCM, but I have to say this. I'm afraid I'm with the younger Johnm and his mother on this one.
Never having been very aware of directors names, I just realized that Magnificent Obsession, Written on the Wind, All that Heaven Allows, and others of their ilk were directed by Sirk. Now I know why they seemed so corny even as a kid, but now as an adult, I just get aggravated with the characters and their foolish antics.
* The rich guy who becomes a great doctor, let alone a great surgeon, seemingly overnight.
* The gardener who owns a palatial hilltop cabin.
* The buxom blond who becomes a top model, even though models have always been tall, slim, and boyishly built, especially in the time that Lana's Imitation of Life was made. (The Claudette version was so much more realistic with her selling her secret formula pancakes and syrup).
I love drama, but also like it tempered with a little realism, like To Kill a Mockingbird, or Not As a Stranger, or even Some Came Running. I do have to admit however, that soap opera movies are always good for a laugh. It's no different of course, for those of you who love them, than it is for an old geezer like me to love Westerns and Sci-Fi. Thank goodness movies give us all such a wide range of things to enjoy, like 200 years ago and 200 years in the future!
Anne
Never having been very aware of directors names, I just realized that Magnificent Obsession, Written on the Wind, All that Heaven Allows, and others of their ilk were directed by Sirk. Now I know why they seemed so corny even as a kid, but now as an adult, I just get aggravated with the characters and their foolish antics.
* The rich guy who becomes a great doctor, let alone a great surgeon, seemingly overnight.
* The gardener who owns a palatial hilltop cabin.
* The buxom blond who becomes a top model, even though models have always been tall, slim, and boyishly built, especially in the time that Lana's Imitation of Life was made. (The Claudette version was so much more realistic with her selling her secret formula pancakes and syrup).
I love drama, but also like it tempered with a little realism, like To Kill a Mockingbird, or Not As a Stranger, or even Some Came Running. I do have to admit however, that soap opera movies are always good for a laugh. It's no different of course, for those of you who love them, than it is for an old geezer like me to love Westerns and Sci-Fi. Thank goodness movies give us all such a wide range of things to enjoy, like 200 years ago and 200 years in the future!
Anne
Anne
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jdb1
I don't disagree with you about the silliness of these movies, Anne. They are silly and the plots can make you groan, but I think that in the hands of a director with less of a "feel" for the material, they would have been much worse and impossible to watch. In this kind of movie, you have to really be willing to suspend your disbelief.
The look of these films -- the sets, the clothes, the colors, the sweep -- that's the element I enjoy the most, and in Sirk's films, more than in similar films from other directors, I think all the factors work well together. You can lose yourself in a world that you know is unreal, and get involved in the stories of (for the most part) glamorous people in crisis. Not everyone likes that genre; I don't care much for the daytime soaps (or the nightime ones, for that matter) of TV, but now and then one comes along that hooks me, because it gets all the essentials of a satisfying melodrama right.
I think Sirk understood how to pull all those elements together. His films, and the actors in them, take their stories seriously, but not in any histrionic or overdone way, and Sirk treats all the characters in the stories with respect.
After all, as unbelievable as any of these situations may seem, you can always find someone who knows someone to whom the exact same thing once happened. People do do some stupid things, and that's what makes life interesting.
The look of these films -- the sets, the clothes, the colors, the sweep -- that's the element I enjoy the most, and in Sirk's films, more than in similar films from other directors, I think all the factors work well together. You can lose yourself in a world that you know is unreal, and get involved in the stories of (for the most part) glamorous people in crisis. Not everyone likes that genre; I don't care much for the daytime soaps (or the nightime ones, for that matter) of TV, but now and then one comes along that hooks me, because it gets all the essentials of a satisfying melodrama right.
I think Sirk understood how to pull all those elements together. His films, and the actors in them, take their stories seriously, but not in any histrionic or overdone way, and Sirk treats all the characters in the stories with respect.
After all, as unbelievable as any of these situations may seem, you can always find someone who knows someone to whom the exact same thing once happened. People do do some stupid things, and that's what makes life interesting.
I don't want any realism in my movies! Realism is for documentaries, or reality TV, or real life (which I try to avoid). Movies are art, and realism is the death of art. I want imagination. I want my soul stirred. I want fun. I want visual intoxication. I want fever dreams. I want my Douglas Sirk movies!mrsl wrote:I love drama, but also like it tempered with a little realism,
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Mr. Arkadin
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While I don't like every Sirk film, Written on the Wind,All that Heaven Allows, The Tarnished Angels, Summer Storm, and A Time to Love, A time to Die are all great movies and worthy of study. Sirk's movies, like most classic films, can be appreciated on many different levels and can be taken at face value or as a commentary on the state of American culture and values--it's really up to the viewer.
If you like Sirk, you might also enjoy Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fassbinder was one of the pioneers of the New Wave of German Cinema and found DS to be a profound influence. Many of his films in fact draw their inspiration from Sirk's work (pardon the bad pun). Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is his remaking of All That Heaven Allows, while The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant deals with many of the same themes of love, dominance, and control in Written on the Wind.
My personal favorite is Chinese Roulette where a young girl tricks both her parents who are having affairs into meeting at their country cottage--with lovers in tow! Hypocrisy and hatred smolder to forest fire levels as the group plays a game of humilation with each other.
If you like Sirk, you might also enjoy Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fassbinder was one of the pioneers of the New Wave of German Cinema and found DS to be a profound influence. Many of his films in fact draw their inspiration from Sirk's work (pardon the bad pun). Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is his remaking of All That Heaven Allows, while The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant deals with many of the same themes of love, dominance, and control in Written on the Wind.
My personal favorite is Chinese Roulette where a young girl tricks both her parents who are having affairs into meeting at their country cottage--with lovers in tow! Hypocrisy and hatred smolder to forest fire levels as the group plays a game of humilation with each other.
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jdb1
I was just reading the mini-bio of Sirk at IMDb, which is very interesting.
It says that Sirk's favorite American film (of his own) was "Taza, Son of Cochise," starring Rock Hudson. I suppose the fascination with all things Western and Native American that many Europeans feel might have had something to do with that assignment's appeal to Sirk.
I've never seen that one. Is anyone familiar with it? Is it any good?
It says that Sirk's favorite American film (of his own) was "Taza, Son of Cochise," starring Rock Hudson. I suppose the fascination with all things Western and Native American that many Europeans feel might have had something to do with that assignment's appeal to Sirk.
I've never seen that one. Is anyone familiar with it? Is it any good?
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moira finnie
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Judith,
It's been a long time since I perused Taza, Son of Cochise and I suspect that Douglas Sirk's affection for this film may have stemmed from his happy collaboration with Rock Hudson, who was displayed to good effect in several Sirk movies, including this one, which, if memory serves, is most notable for the display of young Rock's manly pecs and comely but somewhat stone face. I realize that it may have a subtle subtext that I'm too crass to perceive, but most of Sirk's American movies seem like comedies to me.
I guess that Written on the Wind (1956) and Imitation of Life (1959) are both intended to be glittering commentaries on American materialism & superficiality and I'm told that they take the "woman's picture" to new artistic heights, but honestly, the lurid aspects of these films strike me funny at best. I much prefer Sirk's films such as Lured (1947), Meet Me at the Fair (1953), All That Heaven Allows (1955), There's Always Tomorrow (1956), and The Tarnished Angels (1958). These movies incorporate the interesting visual and melodramatic elements of Sirk's movies with slightly more credible human behavior. Btw, if you have a chance to see the dvd of All That Heaven Allows, it includes an interesting interview with Sirk commenting on his work, which he seemed to feel was not always worthy of note. The director gave me the impression that much of what he did in America was meant to circumvent the limitations of the often soapy scripts that he was handed by incorporating some commentary about loneliness, social restrictions and repression into the proceedings, and he at times engaged in visual and dramatic exaggeration in part to keep himself entertained intellectually, as well as to reflect the inner life of his characters.
There's Always Tomorrow, with Fred MacMurray as a neglected father and husband who entertains the idea of reigniting his relationship with old flame Barbara Stanwyck is especially effective in weaving the above themes into the modestly produced but well acted story. I think that the fact that this film seems to have been made on a smaller budget helped to keep Sirk's overblown tendencies in check and the rapport that his co-stars had with one another deepened the emotion of the somewhat rueful tale. This film in particular, along with the very entertaining Lured is well worth a look for devotees of Sirk.
It's been a long time since I perused Taza, Son of Cochise and I suspect that Douglas Sirk's affection for this film may have stemmed from his happy collaboration with Rock Hudson, who was displayed to good effect in several Sirk movies, including this one, which, if memory serves, is most notable for the display of young Rock's manly pecs and comely but somewhat stone face. I realize that it may have a subtle subtext that I'm too crass to perceive, but most of Sirk's American movies seem like comedies to me.
I guess that Written on the Wind (1956) and Imitation of Life (1959) are both intended to be glittering commentaries on American materialism & superficiality and I'm told that they take the "woman's picture" to new artistic heights, but honestly, the lurid aspects of these films strike me funny at best. I much prefer Sirk's films such as Lured (1947), Meet Me at the Fair (1953), All That Heaven Allows (1955), There's Always Tomorrow (1956), and The Tarnished Angels (1958). These movies incorporate the interesting visual and melodramatic elements of Sirk's movies with slightly more credible human behavior. Btw, if you have a chance to see the dvd of All That Heaven Allows, it includes an interesting interview with Sirk commenting on his work, which he seemed to feel was not always worthy of note. The director gave me the impression that much of what he did in America was meant to circumvent the limitations of the often soapy scripts that he was handed by incorporating some commentary about loneliness, social restrictions and repression into the proceedings, and he at times engaged in visual and dramatic exaggeration in part to keep himself entertained intellectually, as well as to reflect the inner life of his characters.
There's Always Tomorrow, with Fred MacMurray as a neglected father and husband who entertains the idea of reigniting his relationship with old flame Barbara Stanwyck is especially effective in weaving the above themes into the modestly produced but well acted story. I think that the fact that this film seems to have been made on a smaller budget helped to keep Sirk's overblown tendencies in check and the rapport that his co-stars had with one another deepened the emotion of the somewhat rueful tale. This film in particular, along with the very entertaining Lured is well worth a look for devotees of Sirk.
Last edited by moira finnie on June 1st, 2007, 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
jdb1:
I saw Taza so long ago, I barely remember it. I'll watch for it to come up on The Western Channel, it should sooner or later.
dfordoom:
I know what you're saying about realism, but I said tempered with realism. I barely watch new movies or any TV due to all the 'realism' in both medias. The little TV I watch is stuff like Ghost Whisperer and Stargate. When I said realism, I meant neither Wyman or Rock aged a day between the time of the accident and the surgery. Let's face it. It takes at least 12 years to become a doctor let alone start a practice, or form a reputation like he was supposed to have. Sirk could have put a little gray in Rock and Janes' hair in Magnificent Obsession at the very least. WOTW was about rich people and Rock was considered an extension of the family, plus he must have made pretty good money as the Dads' right hand man so the sets and clothing were a good fit. But again, in All That Heaven Allows, how many gardeners do you know of that have homes like that one!!!??? He dressed like a bum and drove an old chug-a-lug truck, so even if he built it himself, where'd he get the money to do it?
I know these are just movies, and I like a happy ending as much as you, but sometimes when I'm watching, and highly enjoying, something like WOTW, these thoughts pop into my head and I can't help trying to find an answer, or thinking "just how dumb were the people of the 50's to absorb this stuff"?
Anne
I saw Taza so long ago, I barely remember it. I'll watch for it to come up on The Western Channel, it should sooner or later.
dfordoom:
I know what you're saying about realism, but I said tempered with realism. I barely watch new movies or any TV due to all the 'realism' in both medias. The little TV I watch is stuff like Ghost Whisperer and Stargate. When I said realism, I meant neither Wyman or Rock aged a day between the time of the accident and the surgery. Let's face it. It takes at least 12 years to become a doctor let alone start a practice, or form a reputation like he was supposed to have. Sirk could have put a little gray in Rock and Janes' hair in Magnificent Obsession at the very least. WOTW was about rich people and Rock was considered an extension of the family, plus he must have made pretty good money as the Dads' right hand man so the sets and clothing were a good fit. But again, in All That Heaven Allows, how many gardeners do you know of that have homes like that one!!!??? He dressed like a bum and drove an old chug-a-lug truck, so even if he built it himself, where'd he get the money to do it?
I know these are just movies, and I like a happy ending as much as you, but sometimes when I'm watching, and highly enjoying, something like WOTW, these thoughts pop into my head and I can't help trying to find an answer, or thinking "just how dumb were the people of the 50's to absorb this stuff"?
Anne
Anne
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