Scarlet Empress

Let me drop some thoughts before diving into the rest of the fantastic Glamour Collection and CC's Scarlet Empress this week (Devil is a Woman and Scarlet remain unseen by me). I first saw Blonde Venus years ago because it was my friend's #1 favorite movie. The film struck me like a thunderbolt..I'm not exaggerating, a thunderbolt nearly hit me a few inches away from me as I was cycling through the storm in the lightning capital of the world and turned frighteningly blind for a few minutes. Well Venus pulverized me that much. And it did the same to me twice over the last weekend with the disc from the Glamour Collection. The plot itself appears kind of ridiculous - the ups and downs of a German cabaret singer/housewife who decides to prostitute to make the quick buck to support her husband and so forth. But you're not watching Venus for the story. You're watching it for Marlene and Sternberg's specacular, weird, gorgeous style. One of my favorite shots is when Marlene sits with the cop at a Spanish dive, her hat covering her face partially as she smokes, her eyes dreamy and far away, which has NOTHING to do with what's going on in the scene. You're watching how Sternberg frames her, how he lights the mysterious glow behind her icy veneer - and that is MORE than enough. This reminds me what the film is all about. Marlene on the top of the world through Sternberg's eyes. And nothing else.