{"id":5269,"date":"2008-02-11T11:21:41","date_gmt":"2008-02-11T18:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5269"},"modified":"2021-01-31T14:13:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T21:13:07","slug":"blue-angel-the-1930","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5269","title":{"rendered":"Blue Angel, The (1930)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot I can understand &#8212; but to risk one&#8217;s entire future for <em>that<\/em> kind of woman?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Blue-Angel-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Blue-Angel-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-28583\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Blue-Angel-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Blue-Angel-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Blue-Angel-Poster-688x1024.jpg 688w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Blue-Angel-Poster.jpg 1419w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen high school instructor Professor Rath (Emil Jannings) learns that his students are infatuated with a sexy nightclub singer (Marlene Dietrich), he visits The Blue Angel intending to chastise them &#8212; to his surprise, however, he finds himself falling in love with the alluring Lola Lola (Dietrich) himself.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Downward Spiral<\/li>\n<li>Femmes Fatales<\/li>\n<li>German Films<\/li>\n<li>Josef Von Sternberg Films<\/li>\n<li>Marlene Dietrich Films<\/li>\n<li>Nightclubs<\/li>\n<li>Singers<\/li>\n<li>Teachers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary&#8217;s review of this early German masterpiece &#8212; the film that launched Marlene Dietrich&#8217;s career &#8212; focuses primarily on his analysis of Lola Lola as an unfairly judged &#8220;devious man-killer&#8221;. He argues that Lola Lola &#8220;doesn&#8217;t plan to humiliate the professor&#8221;, noting that &#8220;she sticks with him long past his degradation,&#8221; and pointing out that, much like the sexually liberated Lulu (Louise Brooks) in Pabst&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1337\"><em>Pandora&#8217;s Box<\/em> (1929)<\/a>, Lola Lola is vilified for &#8220;her willingness to satisfy her own physical needs no matter who gets hurt&#8221;, and for being &#8220;so casual about sex that she never stops a man from entering a path towards self-destruction.&#8221; Indeed, all things considered, Lola Lola (thanks in large part to Dietrich&#8217;s impressive performance) is actually a surprisingly sympathetic <em>femme fatale<\/em>, given that she never intends to trap Professor Rath into marriage; he&#8217;s the one who insists on going through with the doomed arrangement. <\/p>\n<p><em>The Blue Angel<\/em> is a classic example of moviemaking near the beginning of the sound era which nonetheless maintains allegiance to the values of silent cinema. While sound is used to good effect &#8212; particularly during Lola Lola&#8217;s nightclub performances &#8212; director Josef von Sternberg maintains a firm grip on the film&#8217;s visuals, ensuring that the set designs, make-up, costumes, and camera movements are all visually engaging. Though the story itself is slow and a bit static (most of the scenes take place either in the nightclub or Professor Rath&#8217;s classroom), we&#8217;re never bored, thanks to the bitterly compelling nature of Rath&#8217;s downward spiral, which represents not just the archetypal portrayal of &#8220;man seduced by woman&#8221; but the tenuous grasp we possess on our moral superiority: Professor Rath starts out as the most pompous of moralistic prigs, yet within the space of just two visits to the Blue Angel is inextricably entwined in the &#8220;underworld&#8221; he once derided so soundly. How short, indeed, is the fall from grace. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> <em>The Blue Angel<\/em> was filmed simultaneously in both German and English, but the former version is generally preferred. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-dietrich.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-dietrich.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5271\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Emil Jannings as Professor Rath<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-janning.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-janning.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5272\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rath and Lola&#8217;s sweet, unusual romance<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-romance.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-romance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5273\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Effectively claustrophobic set designs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-set.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-set.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5274\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The poignant, perfectly realized moment when Rath&#8217;s students realize that he no longer has any moral sway over them<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-students.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-students.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5275\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A devastating portrait of dignity lost<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-tragedy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/blue-angel-tragedy.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5276\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its importance as Marlene Dietrich&#8217;s breakthrough role, and for its undisputed status as a foreign classic. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0020697\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-blue-angel-2001\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/blue-angel\/review\/116593\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot I can understand &#8212; but to risk one&#8217;s entire future for that kind of woman?&#8221; Synopsis: When high school instructor Professor Rath (Emil Jannings) learns that his students are infatuated with a sexy nightclub singer (Marlene Dietrich), he visits The Blue Angel intending to chastise them &#8212; to his surprise, however, he finds himself falling in love with the alluring Lola Lola (Dietrich) himself. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Downward Spiral Femmes Fatales German Films Josef Von&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5269\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5269"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67453,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5269\/revisions\/67453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}