O is back to being energetic and healthy, but most recently the Berlinale blogging got a little hiccup mostly because I am in a writer’s slump. On the one hand, I feel my energy draining out of me now that it’s almost done (not entirely, but close), on the other hand, I had trouble with “Leave her to heaven” specifically because my thoughts kept wandering to “Ode to my father”. In good news, Pixelmatsch has been filling in the films he has seen – yay yay! Thinking about it makes me look forward to my meta postings at the end: Films we have missed, afterthoughts and statistics and rankings.
Just like last year, my Saturday was pretty short. We got a bunch of tickets (4 films) for Sunday, and by this time, both O and I were sick and after 3 days of getting at home after midnight, I really didn’t want to watch any late night screenings anymore. As a result, my choices fell on an afternoon film and one evening film so I could spend most of the day with O but without passing out by the end of the day. It was my most balanced day of the Berlinale, with two very nice, solid films but which did not blow my mind.
Leave her to Heaven
USA 1945, John M. Stahl, 110′
Successful writer falls in love with a beautiful, strong-willed but slightly strange girl who turns out to be maniacally possessive to the point of murdering people just to have her beloved to herself. Starting out as a love story, it then turns into a murder story and then a courthouse drama.
I had no idea what I was getting into with this film (who is John M. Stahl anyways?), instead I was just taking my chances since I wanted to see a Gene Tierney movie. I was intrigued by her even before I ever saw “Laura” (becauseI thought she looked strange in a good way and because she dated Kennedy hahaha). Strangely enough, I didn’t think she was that great as “Laura”, a beautiful lady who is ultimately just innocent nice damsel in distress. But oh, she is absolutely gorgeous as Ellen who is just as evil as her bitchface suggests. The beautiful, charming, headstrong, but also crazy woman is simply perfect for Gene Tierney, and I absolutely adore her in this role. I have to admit that I am a big fan of these kinds of characters, and Tierney plays her in a shockingly convincing manner. I was also impressed by the styling of this film: When Ellen’s craziness gets overboard, her hair is done up in an utterly frumpy manner to indicate how out of control she has gotten. But when commits one of her worst crimes, she opens up her hair and is styled beautifully to give her the appearance of the victim. This subtly shows how purposefully she acts, and makes her so much more interesting than someone who is just mentally ill and not herself.
By the way, I was also quite smitten with the actress of Ruth, who is styled so cutely ever since the beginning that I had a hunch her and the protagonist must get together. Nevertheless, she never goes beyond ‘cute’ of course, and I suspect Gene Tierney would not have allowed her to steal her spotlight (she doesn’t).
Even though this is a Technicolor film, They shoot pictures don’t they lists the film as one of the 100 quintessential noir films (which are the most referenced and cited for the genre), indicated by that 100-icon. I am not surprised, Ellen Berent is perhaps my favorite femme fatale of all, and she is perhaps one of the most radical too, much like the protagonist of “Angel Face”. There are no gangsters in this film, it’s ultimately a family drama, but the characterization of its protagonist and its immensely beautiful style are very noir-like, so you can probably tell that I enjoyed the film very much.