THE BLUE ANGEL (1930)

A.K.A.: Der blaue Engel

Country: Germany

Genre(s): Drama

Director: Josef von Sternberg

Cast: Emil Jannings / Marlene Dietrich / Kurt Gerron

Plot

An ulta-conservative college professor falls for the wiles of a burlesque performer and allows himself to suffer one humiliation after another as his fascination becomes obsession.

What I Liked

“The Blue Angel” features Marlene Dietrich in a star making performance as one of the screen’s first femme fatales.  She is sultry, cruel, mysterious, and risqué as nightclub dancer and singer Lola.  No matter what the setting, she is a living spotlight, the viewer’s eye uncontrollably following her wherever she goes.  As Professor Rath, the man obsessed with her (and a foil for her character), Emil Jannings is also compelling.  His performance is certainly more cartoonish than Dietrich’s, but the Professor’s physical and emotional transformation through the film embodies the films entire plot really.  So though Dietrich carries the sex appeal of the film on her shoulders, it is Jannings who carries the story on his.

From a visual perspective, everything in this movie feels intensely claustrophobic.  From the tiny room in which the professor lives to the narrow alleyways he traverses to get to the night club (The titular Blue Angel), to the stuffy rooms and stage of the club.  Perhaps this was out of necessity because of the camera technology available at the time or perhaps it was an intentional creation by the filmmakers, but this claustrophobia somehow adds to the overall tragedy of the story.  The characters are constantly either jam-packed in tiny rooms or, in the case of the Professor, alone.  Thus a great sense of squalor and despair pervades the entire viewing experience.

What I Disliked

At first it was very hard to figure out of this movie was meant to be comic or tragic.  By the film’s conclusion there’s no doubt that the film is a tragedy, but in the beginning Jannings’ performance is so emotional and his character’s submission to Lola so great that his pathetic status is disconcertingly funny.  Call me sadistic, but I just felt it was all so intense that it bordered on absurd.  As the story progresses and the events get dramatically darker, anything that could possibly be funny is cast away for pure misery.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Professor Rath’s final status as a stage clown, make-up and all, is a haunting image.  He is emotionally crippled, his body ragged, and his mind clouded by self-loathing and despondency.  He wanders through the final scenes as though he were a zombie, barely uttering anything but bestial cries, shuffling his feet, and morally beyond redemption.  It is a lingering image of a total fall from grace.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5