Recomeçar a Vida

Douglas Sirk (original name Hans Detlef Sierck) is mostly remembered for his American films, and even these ones were long viewed as cheap commercial successes.

But he also made some (largely forgotten) films in Germany. I don't know why his German films are seldom seen. Is it because one suspects a Nazi flavour? This is not realy the case. Sierck left Nazi Germany relatively late (1937) but his second wife was Jewish and politically he was certainly no supporter of National Socialism. Is it because his German films are real melodrama's? Could be. In his American films beneath the melodrama there is a second layer with hidden criticism on bourgeois moralism. This second layer is absent in his German films if only because they do not play in bourgeois circles but more often in aristocratic circles with their own codes of honor.

This is not to say that his German films are not worth watching. His two films with the Swedish star Zarah Leander ("Habanera" and "Zu neuen Ufern", both of 1937) are certainly entertaining. Of this two films I prefer "Zu neuen Ufern", in which Zarah Leander plays a tragic woman who seems to fall for the wrong man. The film does have a touch of Brecht in it, and this is not by chance because a few years earlier Sierck directed "The threepenny opera" for stage.

This film was a sensation when it appeared in 1937; and 65 years later, one can still see why, and one is still moved by it. Despite some technical imperfections of picture and sound of those times, and despite the - initially unsettling - fact that it plays in London and Sydney while its characters and language are clearly German, it comes as close to a real work of art as a movie can. Both the tragic core of the story and its upbeat ending are entirely believable; the major characters appear human and differentiated; the sceneries and lighting are convincing; and Ralph Benatzky's songs have become treasured German folk music. Their presentation by Zarah Leander are the high points of the movie, when time stops and the here and now are forgotten. It is just a little sad that Leander's Gloria Vane was prevented from wearing a really shoulder-free evening gown, as those loud-mouthed boors accused her of. What some claimed to be immoral in England of 1846 was decreed immoral in Germany of 1937. One wonders if the '37 viewers caught on to it.

Zarah Leander, Swedish Import to the German Cinema of the 1930s & 40s, is best known for her stunning beauty and her deep singing voice, both of which would light up a movie screen. Often cast in the role of a suffering, unappreciated woman, this film could be her lifetime signature performance.

Mistreated by her lover, she nonetheless takes the blame for his criminal activity, accepting a prison sentence, in dim hopes of reuniting with the scoundrel years later. A twist of fate allows her to leave prison, but of course at a price. The predictable plot moves along, including 2 memorable songs, the heartbreaking "Ich steh' I'm Regen" and the up-tempo "Yes, Sir!", both becoming Leander trademarks.

Like Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis and other Classic Cinema Divas, Zarah Leander has achieved cult status. "Zu neuen Ufern" would be the first film to be mentioned by any fan. Enjoy the drama, and enjoy the queen...the Drama Queen of Old German Cinema at her best!

Shortly before his emigration to the US Detlev Sierck made this movie. For those who love his later American movies it will be a little bit disappointing.

The story is very melodramatic but not very convincing. A man makes bad use of his fathers money for the sake of a Vaudeville singer. She is therefore sent to Australia for imprisonment. The man joins the army and they meet again...

Nevertheless you will recognize some elements of Sirk's later cinematography also in this movie, like the frequent use of mirrors an element which was later adapted by his great admirer Fassbinder). A ridiculous element of Nazi censorship is the fact that the dancing girls are forced to dance to a mock version of Offenbach's Can-Can.

Nobody in German cinema ever did melodramatic suffering quite like Zarah Leander, and this - her debut film for UFA in 1937 - shows her at the peak of her allure. She plays a glamorous stage diva, and we first see her on stage in London singing her flirtatious number 'Yes, Sir'. She then takes the wrap for a fraud committed by her British officer lover (played by Willy Birgel) who is on the verge of sailing for Australia, and for her pains she is transported to Australia herself, as a convict.

In prison, accompanied by her fellow female inmates, she sings a beautiful, sad song directed to her rascally lover: 'I have such a deep longing for you'. She is released from Paramatta prison in order to marry a handsome farmer (played by Viktor Staal) - but she runs away from him, only to discover that the Birgel character is on the verge of marrying the governor's daughter.

Heartbroken, she tries to return to prison, then to the stage, but is booed by the Australian audience for her gloomy act - a real irony this, since the song she's singing, 'I'm standing in the Rain' is a real beauty, haunting and melancholy, making full use of Leander's lovely contralto voice. Zu Neuen Ufern is a very emotionally involving film, a pointer to the films Detlev Sierck would later make in the US under his anglicised name, Douglas Sirk. Perfect for a rainy Sunday, and proof of the star power of Zarah Leander.