ach - my dvd for this one had problems - sure looking forward to seeing these on the Criterion channel again instead of DVD's with flaws
This is part of a 6 movie set (or will be released as such) - of a great collabration between the sultry and erotic Marlene Dietrich, and the director Josef von Sternberg, who introduced her to America thru these 6 films. This one was the 5th
This is an entertaining if a bit campy film about the rise of Catherine the Great, probably told just a bit ahistorical and 1930'ish. But lord, the sets - a macabre and twisted world is constructed here - the sets and scenes and costumes are both garish and ghoulistic, cramped yet expansive - and as Marlene's daughter put it - this was the one time she had to compete with the set for attention.
I always get a kick out of seeing the 1700's characters speaking with perfect American L.A. accents - not pretending to be Russian or even medieval.
I gotta say, I would probably be interested in the Blu-ray and absolutely want to see some more of their films together - I assume they'll be later on in the collection but in this case, this was added to the box set years after it's initial release - the only special feature was an interview with Marlene from 1971 but honestly, my DVD had a couple crucial scuffs on it that resulted in me having to find a download copy to catch a 3 minute skip at the wedding and humorously the last 4 minutes of the film
anyhow this is really good - I might get another one in before the weekend but it looks like we're getting a burst of Jacques Tati films - 3 in a row, so hey something new on the way
This was visually an incredible film - I'll save my other thoughts on Marlene for future posts as this one was literally, I think, the first film I've seen her in - can you believe it?
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