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The Blue Angel | Year: 1931 Classification: Foreign Film - German Directed: - Josef von Sternberg Actors/Actresses: - Emil Jannings - Marlene Dietrich - Kurt Gerron - Rosa Valetti - Hans Albers A classic of world cinema A German cinema classic from the late Weimar-era, and the film debut of super-sexy Marlene Dietrich, who is stunning in her role as a flirtatious, heartless cabaret singer whose carnal wiles bring an infatuated school teacher to ruin. But then, what is *really* responsible for his downfall? Dietrich as the temptress, his own repressed sexuality and concurrent fetishization of her beauty, or the close-mindedness of the society around them? As with much of the art of this era (in Germany and without), this film depicts the clash of the old world and the new -- the modern, open, crass, liberating and chaotic world of the individual against the older, stable, stifling, communal and "moral" world of the village and church. At any rate, the transformation of actor Emil Jannings from a fusty old humbug into a degraded shell of a man is a dramatic triumph, and the direction, by Josef von Sternberg, is flawless -- filled with darkness, closeness and brooding claustrophia. The new DVD version features both the German and English-language versions (the English version isn't dubbed, it was actually *acted* in English by the same German actors, and has a few interesting differences of moral tone...) and also includes, as an added bonus Marlene Dietrich's first screen test, which is hilarious, and a must-see for her fans. The degradation of Professor Roth by Lola Loa Directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, "The Blue Angel" is the most blatant example of degradation in film. This movie from the wanning days of the Weimar Republic was one of the first films to specifically display the degradation of a man by a woman. Emil Jannings plays Professor Immanuel Rath, who teaches at an all-boys high school, where all the students hate him and make fun of him behind his back. One day Rath confiscates a bawdy picture of the sexy, provocative nightclub siren Lola Lola, played by Marlene Dietrich. Rath goes to the nightclub to save his students from moral decay, but instead he becomes obsessed with Lola Lola, with her top hat and long legs in stockings singing "Falling in Love Again." Lola Lola plays with the Professor, telling him he is not bad looking and throwing her underwear at him. In a passionate outburst out of a life of repressed indifference, Rath proposes to Lola Lola. After laughing hysterically, she accepts. The result is that Rath first loses any respect his students might have had for him and then his job. The final scene presents Rath at his absolute nadir, reduced to dressing like a clown in a pathetic attempt to just survive. "The Blue Angel" is adapted from a novel by Heinrich Mann and works quite well as an allegory of Germany at the end of the 1920's. Professor Rath represents the deterioration of the old order in Germany, whle Lola Lola symbolizes the new generation's lack of values and moral perversions. The film's message was that unless Germany did something to save itself the nation would becoming as pathetic as Professor Rath. Ironically, Germany was saved that particular fate in favor of something much, much worse. However, today "The Blue Angel" is known more for establishing the on-screen persona of Marlene Dietrich (check out the documentary "Marlene" for a fascinating look at the woman behind that persona). Falling Too Hard This memorable, iconic film stars Marlene Dietrich as the showgirl Lola Lola, Emil Jannings as the Professor, and is directed by Josef von Sternberg. Stodgy, upright Herr Professor enters the cabaret after following some of his pupils, whom he's discovered with postcards of the singer Lola. He is shocked by the degradation of the place, but then catches sight of Lola and finds himself fascinated. In spite of himself, he returns again and again to the nightclub, driven by his feelings for Lola, a mixture of blatant lust and intense curiousity. Through a series of dressing room encounters, the Professor becomes acquainted with Lola, who views him as an amusing distraction, a relic with his gentlemanly ways and old-fashioned manners. The Professor proves useful in his way, serving as a foil between her and unwanted advances from customers and unwelcomed suitors. With the best of intentions the Professor offers Lola his hand in marriage, offering her his protection, and his good name. This is meaningless at the cabaret, no one plays by his rules. The befuddled Professor tries to fit in, but cannot, and in the process loses himself entirely. He can't change himself, just as he can't change Lola ~ to change Lola would be to destroy her, just as the Professor, through the change he endures, destroys himself. There is a sort of backhanded morality here: Lola cannot help for what she is, she is a product of what she has seen in her life, what she has been forced to do in order to survive, just as the Professor can't help for what he is, the product of his own background, mores, and values. He might have survived had he realised that what a person portrays on stage is not necessarily what that person truly must be, once the curtain is wrung down. The film arrives to its inevitable tragic end, climaxing with a scene of devastating humiliation. Many underlying psycho-sexual themes run through this film, the most obvious being repression vs freedom, and at what cost 'liberation' is achieved. To view the film in the context of the era in which it was made ~ a time portending many social and moralistic upheavals ~ makes for some interesting discussion. Marlene Dietrich, in her role, is in turns cold and unbending, charming and vexing, wise and vulnerable, and always, always absolutely luminously beautiful. Jannings is heartbreaking as the Professor. A must-see for anyone interested in cinema. Buy The Blue Angel at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Blue Angel Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Blue Angel This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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