Film Review
Stützen der Gesellschaft
is arguably Douglas Sirk's first great film, an emotionally charged
morality play that offers a foretaste of the cinematic jewels that Sirk
would craft during his time in Hollywood in the 1940s and '50s.
Based on a popular stage play by Henrik Ibsen, the film deals with
themes that would preoccupy Sirk in many of his later films - the
hypocrisy of the middle classes, the conflict between societal
constraints and personal impulses, the failings of the class system,
etc.
By the time he made this film, Sirk (then known by his birth name
Detlef Sierck) had already earned a solid reputation as a filmmaker in
Germany, but this marked an important artistic turning point in his
career. He had become aware of the importance of lighting and
camera positioning to achieve specific moods and sustain the dramatic
thrust of the film, and so we begin to see the stylistic developments
that would define his very individual approach to cinema.
In many ways,
Stützen der
Gesellschaft is a film that is ahead of its time and, had it
been made in English, it could easily be mistaken for one of Sirk's
early American films. The lighting is particularly effective, not
only in contributing to the increasingly sombre tone of the piece, but
in delineating the characters and underscoring their inner
conflict. The high point is the dramatic sea storm sequence at
the end of the film, in which the forces of nature tear their way into
the narrative and resolve a maelstrom of crises in the most spectacular
manner. Sirk was clearly destined for great things after this.
© James Travers 2008
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Next Douglas Sirk film:
Summer Storm (1944)
Film Synopsis
The wealthy consul of a Norwegian coastal town, Karsten Bernick has
devoted everything he has to his one great project, the construction of
an enormous shipyard. His determination to see the scheme through
has brought him into conflict with the town's community of fishermen, who
see this as a threat to their livelihood. One day, Bernick's
estranged brother-in-law, Johann Tonnessen, makes an unexpected return
from America. Now a member of a travelling circus, Johann
attracts the interest of Bernick's young son, Olaf, and his adopted
daughter, Dina. When Johann learns that Bernick did nothing to
quash rumours that he had stolen money from his former employer, he threatens
to reveal Bernick's dark
secret - that he is Dina's natural father...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.