A Shift in Expectation and Perspective

That was my reaction, too.

Thanks to the excellent blu ray from Kino Lorber, I've now seen another film by Douglas Sirk: THE TARNISHED ANGELS, from 1957.

Three years earlier, Sirk had filmed MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, not his first American film, but the one that made him a box-office king of melodramatic "women's pictures." I would call OBSESSION lousy: contrived in its plot, ridiculous in its characters, with a few small hints of directorial intelligence but with nothing else to redeem it.

Had this been my introduction to Sirk, it would have been enough to keep me away from his films for the rest of my life, but I was lucky to begin with ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS from 1955. It would have been easy enough to make a film better than MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, but Sirk went further: HEAVEN is just as much a "women's picture" in the storyline, but more honest in its emotions and more convincing in its plot (despite a last-minute injury that turns the heroine into a household nurse). The film also takes a steady aim at American conformity, and has a lot to say about the slow death of pursuing social status instead of personal feelings. Best of all, the film reveals a director with a striking cinematic ability. Sirk develops a stylization of colour and composition that reminds me of later films by David Lynch.

Lynch also came to mind when I saw WRITTEN ON THE WIND, from 1956. This film returns to melodrama, but retains the skill and purpose that had energized ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS. Viewers who find Lynch over the top and over-stylized would have the same reaction to WIND, but I found its visual intensity compelling. Sirk was clearly a director of intelligence and power, even if that power served the needs of a story that some would call far-fetched.

These viewers might prefer THE TARNISHED ANGELS. With a storyline that tones down the melodrama, that offers a more subdued look at some down-to-earth characters, ANGELS feels more like a straightforward drama, but heightened, once again, by Sirk's visual intensity. The grim plot is punctuated by flying sequences that caught me off guard; one stunt effect, in particular, made my jaw drop. Sirk would have a been a superb director of action films; what he achieves here is undeniably impressive. All of this builds to an ending that could have been obvious, but works because it does not quite follow the paths I had predicted. This might not be an all-time classic of the cinema, but it is a good film that I can recommend.

Sirk I can also recommend. I understand the reasons for his cult reputation, and I could easily join that cult; I might even be halfway through the door. I can also understand why his films might not appeal to everyone, in the same ways that David Lynch films might not appeal: they are less reflections of reality than creations of an alternate, artistic reality, one that plays by different rules and lives by heightened standards of emotion, colour, texture, shadow. To step into the world of Sirk, viewers need a shift in expectation and perspective; if they can make that shift, they will find much to praise.