Le secret de Veronika Voss

In the 50's, in a rainy night in Germany, the sports reporter Robert Krohn (Hilmar Thate) offers his umbrella to the former successful UFA actress Veronika Voss (Rosel Zech) but he does not recognizes her. Later she calls him inviting for a drink, and he finds an unstable and decadent actress living in her past success. In a mixed sensation of love, empathy and curiosity, Robert has an affair with Veronika, and discloses a dangerous gang leaded by Dr. Marianne Katz (Annemarie Düringer) that addicts wealthy patients in morphine to get their fortune when they die.

"Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss" is a melancholic, bitter and depressive tale based on the reality of an era, and the association with "Sunset Boulevard" is immediate. The story is based on the last years of the German actress Sybille Schmitz (1909-1955), who died due to an overdose of sleeping pills. The performance of Rosel Zech is impressive, showing the glamour of a former star in the Nazi period and the depression of an addicted woman in the 50's. Hilmar Thate is also perfect in the role of a simple innocent man that faces a greedy world of pain and death. The magnificent cinematography in black and white, using perfectly light and shadows, is homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Desespero de Veronika Voss" ("The Despair of Veronika Voss")

Beautifully photographed in simple black and white, with some lovely gliding shots and some interesting camera angles and framing, the film is an amazement on a visual scope, even if the screenplay and acting are nothing special. Fassbinder's choice of lighting is excellent, giving true stark contrast between areas of black and areas of white in certain scenes. Sound is a significant aspect too, with soft radio recording heard in the background of just about every scene. The meaning behind such an audio style is not clear, but still it provides an interesting feel if not much else. As already alluded to however, the technical aspects outweigh the rest of the film. It is a rather cold tale with awkward characters, which are hard to sympathise with. Towards the end it also goes off on a bit of a tangent, from being a drama to a thriller. The film definitely seems more dedicated to its style than its substance, but that only makes is a certainly degree less fascinating to watch. The style quite literally sparkles and the film applies a few interesting editing tricks to change from scene to scene. If not involving as a tale, it is nevertheless great "eye candy".

This movie left me feeling rather low. Its world is quite bleak. People are either strong or weak in the face of a society that feels cold. Looks like being strong won't make any difference in the long run. A very sad tale with beautiful black and white photography.

A famous German actress, Veronika Voss (Rozel Zech) in her forties tries to revive her career while struggling with alcohol and drugs in the final chapter to Fassbinder's trilogy about collapse of the West German postwar dream. The film was inspired by the tragic life of famous UFA actress, Sybille Schmitz (1909-1955). She began her career in the films by the giants such Georg Wilhelm Pabst and Carl Theodor Dreyer and soon became one of Germany's beloved actress. Everything changed during the WWII and especially after its end.

Fassbinder's film which was shot in black and white visually is very impressive. "Light and shadows are two cinema's best secrets" says Veronika in the movie and light and shadows make the film a joy to behold. I like it but I think it is the weakest part of the trilogy perhaps because "Lola" and "Maria Braun" are so strong. I found the documentary about Sybille Schmitz, "Dances with Death" which is included on Criterion DVD much more compelling.

Veronika - 7/10 Dances with Death 8.5/10

Like many other Fassbinder films "Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss" tells about a decline and is very depressing. It is a visually stunning film that shows how much Fassbinder admired the classical Hollywood cinema and especially the films of Douglas Sirk. Like the films of his idol this film is stylish and artificial to an extreme extent which creates quite a distance between itself and the audience. Probably an even greater distance, since the style and the artificiality are used more consciously here, even as a instrument of alienation. So it is more fascinating than touching or even moving and might leave one even cold. Nevertheless the story is intriguing and it really tells something about the post war society in West Germany, so the film is interesting and even fascinating to watch. The scene where Rosel Zech as Veronika sings "Memories Are Made Of This" is very haunting, a gem.