Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt

After 1928, Marlene Dietrich was given only leading roles. In this story (based on the novel by Max Brod), she hones her vamp-woman game to subsequent perfection. To this day, I am still so entranced by the film that it is really hard not knowing the day or the hour if I will ever see The Art of Love, so as to conclude the picture of her work, which took on a truly new dimension with her visit to Vienna in 1927. Just like she did there, here too she began a new unprecedented stage. This is where Marlene’s character Stascha first sacrificed herself, as she did in later films as Marie Kolverer in Dishonored, Frenchy in Destry Rides Again, Blanche Ferrand in The Room Upstairs or Altar Keane in Rancho Notorious... In short, Marlene Dietrich in a silent film is an underrated treasure. (11.02.2009)