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")

A man runs into a pretty but aging woman in the middle of a rainstorm. He politely protects her from the downpour with his umbrella, and even lifts her over a fence so she can get to her bus. He also gets on the bus, and, beginning to pant, she declares that she can't go near anyone else on the bus, because she's a famous actress and she'll be thronged. The other passengers on the bus look up at the exasperated woman, but don't pay her any more mind than that. A bit later, the woman proudly tells the man that she is Veronika Voss, and all he can do is politely nod. She hasn't been in a movie for three years, and hasn't been in a good one for longer than that. Veronika has to try really hard to pin the man, Robert, down and seduce him, and even when she accomplishes this feat he doesn't seem particularly interested. Robert's interest does grow when he begins to discover some nasty secrets about her life, notably that she is addicted to morphine. A strange doctor seems to be little more than a local drug dealer when he begins to look into the situation.

The plot is decent; it would have been a really good one for a classic Hollywood film starring Joan Crawford or Bette Davis or someone like that. Its greatest worth is in the performance of Rosel Zech, who has the titular role. Cornelia Froboess as Robert's girlfriend and Annemarie Düringer as the wicked doctor are also good. The character of Robert is never very interesting. The black and white cinematography (Xaver Schwarzenberger) and the unconventional score (Peer Raben) are very good. The tape I watched was not in a very good condition, so I may have liked it more if I had seen a better copy. 8/10.

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

In a career spanning a mere sixteen years, Rainer Werner Fassbinder made forty-four films before his death at just thirty-six, which occurred a few months after the premiere of this, the final part of what has come to be designated as his BRD Trilogy.

It is beautifully written by his regular collaborators Peter Marthesheimer and Pea Froelich, shot in knife-like black and white by his preferred cinematographer Xavier Schwarzenberger and as one would expect from this director, features a strong leading role for an actress, in this case Rosel Zech, whose character is loosely based upon that of the fascinating but tragic Sybille Schmitz who despite never being fully accepted by Herr Goebbels and company found it virtually impossible to continue her post-war career because of her perceived Nazi connections and whose drug-fuelled downward spiral ended in suicide in 1955.

Zech is simply stupendous in a demanding role that requires a wide range of emotions and as a bonus she performs a beguiling, Dietrich-like rendition of 'Memories are made of this." As a lesbian Dr. Feel-good, there is a magnificently chilling performance by Annemarie Dueringer. The entire cast is uniformly excellent and all of the characters are well drawn. Armin Mueller-Stahl again makes his presence felt whilst the influence of America in the Germany of the time is epitomised by the sound track and not least by the presence of the ubiquitous African-American GI played as always by Guenter Kaufmann. As well as being a tribute to the mighty UFA Studios, the relationship between fading star Voss and the journalist of Hilmar Thate is a nod to 'Sunset Boulevard'.

There is an absence of socio-political comment here and the whole enterprise succeeds solely through the myths of the movies. Fassbinder was an avowed devotee of the dream factory that was Hollywood and professed his adoration for Douglas Sirk. As it happened the master long outlived the pupil and Sirk offered a fitting tribute:"Although his fims were controversial.....only those things that survive opposition have the power of permanence."

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.