Movies About or Around Europe: "The Blue Angel"/"Der Blaue Engel"

I'm finally getting around to seeing some classic films which I probably should have watched in high school instead of watching "Heathers" or "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" for the fiftieth time. Not to say "The Blue Angel" is fundamentally better than these movies, just to say that it is a piece of film history - a reference point. It may be the first Marlene Dietrich movie I have seen. As someone who considers herself a bit of film geek, I have some catching up to do.

The film is heartbreaking and pathetic, but I'm not going to tell you why, because there's no way to do so without spoiling it. What I can say is that the story involves a professor, played very realistically by Emil Jannings, and a nightclub performer, Lola Lola, played by Marlene Dietrich in her breakout role. Professor Emmanuel Rath is so terribly earnest that it makes him helpless both against the sparkling facade of the nightclub and against the guise of morality of the bourgeois world he belongs to. This is a man who believes in doing what's right - to drive the point home in one scene we see a motto about doing right hanging above his bed. Unfortunately, those who do what's right and take responsibility for their actions are often wronged by the people around them.

This is also a "femme fatale" film - a cautionary tale about the dangers of beautiful women. It's not too hard to take this moral from the film, since Dietrich sings two songs which distinctly warn the audience about getting involved with a woman like her. "Falling in Love Again", Dietrich's signature song goes: "Men cluster to me/Like moths around a flame/And if their wings burn/I know I'm not to blame." Another song, "Blonde Women" warns: " Beware the amazing blond women/Be careful when you meet a sweet blond stranger. You may not know it, but you're reaching danger." Just to drive the point home, there are a series of shots that cut from Dietrich on the stage, to linger for a moment on a statue of a siren (those evil temptresses of the sea who caused men to crash against the rocks), to the Professor gazing at Dietrich.

The arresting presence of Marlene Dietrich shines on stage.

In this sense, I find the film tiresome. Though it wasn't such a warmed-over cliche in 1930, today I've had it with decades of films which warn men against sexy women yet entice men towards them simultaneously. For all the fuss that's made about such women in film, I've rarely if ever met such women in real life, and when audiences are made to sympathize with the poor, duped man over and over again, it sort of takes the heat off the male role in the objectification of beautiful women. It's far more common in real life to see women taken advantage of by men - human trafficking and rape immediately come to mind. However, in films, women and their sexuality are constant, deadly snares, as if Angelina Jolie or a young Kathleen Turner were waiting around every street corner.

Dietrich does manage to make the role of the femme fatale more than a stereotype, however. First, her charisma is intense.  Her screen presence travels across the decades to make this 1930, beginning-of-the-sound-era film seem, if not contemporary, at least not a fossil. She is one of those actors with an extra spark in her eye and the ability to arrest attention. The black and white, somewhat expressionist filming accentuates this allure, and it's not hard to believe that she could hold sway over this club or over human lives. She is more than her charm, however. She also has some fine scenes with Jannings (also terrific), and it is clear that there is some complexity of feeling in her character - some inner conflict.

Emil Jannings as the earnest and upright schoolteacher of "Der Blaue Engel."

At the end of the day, though, I'm not sure if this is a movie I'd recommend strongly. It was interesting to me as a part of film history and as an introduction to Dietrich, whose other films I think I will seek out eventually. It is interesting to see a film made in the Weimar era which possibly reflects some of the tensions of the time. Overall, though, the film suffers from its age and tropes which have been exhausted in the subsequent years.

I did watch the film in German, however, and, as usual that was good practice. I didn't pick up any new expressions this time, but Lee was happy to hear his favorite word: "Entschuldigung" (Excuse me/I'm sorry) from the other room.

One more thing, slightly unrelated, but I couldn't get this song out of my head while watching the movie. It's a pretty great song, for my money the best one on the album. Enjoy: