Whilst having read high praise of his creations for years,I somehow have never got round to seeing a title by auteur director Douglas Sirk. Checking with my dad about what he has recently sold on eBay,he mentioned a Sirk DVD that was about to be sent,and asked me if I would like to watch it before it goes,which led to me putting some time aside for A Time to Love and a Time to Die.
View on the film:
Filming in Germany for the first time since fleeing from the Nazis,auteur director Douglas Sirk & cinematographer Russell Metty superbly use the lush beauty of Sirk's Technicolor stylisation to starkly show the devastation of war. Unable to work in the Soviet-controlled part of the country, Sirk and the crew reinforce bombed out buildings and build entrances,exits and stairways within them, giving the scenes of Graeber and other soldiers lifting bricks to find survivors of the latest air raid bombing an earthy atmosphere. Ending on a haunting image possibly referencing the death of his son Klaus Detlef Sierck, (Sirk's ex-wife Lydia Brincken Joined the Nazis and got Klaus to become a child star in Nazi propaganda films,along with barring Sirk from seeing Klaus after Sirk married Jewish actress Hilde Jary. Klaus died as a solider on the then-USSR Ukrainian boarder on 22 May 1944) Sirk and Metty contrast the autumn colours of Ernst Graeber and Elizabeth's romance with an uncomfortable, threatening mood,lit in the casual manner the Nazis sit back and tell Ernst of the latest people they have sent to the concentration camps,brilliantly underlined by a shimmering score from Miklós Rózsa.
Giving his own seal of approval by co-staring in the adaptation of his own book,Orin Jannings take on Erich Maria Remarque's novel takes an intelligent, novel-like approach to Elizabeth and Ernst's romance, starting from a collage of them piecing each others common interests with flirting and tempting asides, to a blossoming romance held by them each willing to risk their lives for the others safety. Hardly featuring any signs of the Allies, Jannings goes behind enemy lines and follows those trapped inside Nazi Germany, where Ernst's time on the battleground has made him well aware of the threat loyal Nazi solders and informants hold towards murdering the Jewish Elizabeth and him.
Appearing in the first of two films for Sirk,John Gavin gives an incredible performance as Ernst,whose romantic side is pinned by Gavin with a quick-witted edge to search for his parents out of sight, and to keep Elizabeth out of the Nazis grip. Looking absolutely beautiful from her first appearance, Liselotte Pulver gives a magnificent performance as Elizabeth,via bringing a real delicate touch to the early stages of the romance,that transforms into a burning passion for Ernst and Elizabeth's desire to fight to make this a time to love.
View on the film:
Filming in Germany for the first time since fleeing from the Nazis,auteur director Douglas Sirk & cinematographer Russell Metty superbly use the lush beauty of Sirk's Technicolor stylisation to starkly show the devastation of war. Unable to work in the Soviet-controlled part of the country, Sirk and the crew reinforce bombed out buildings and build entrances,exits and stairways within them, giving the scenes of Graeber and other soldiers lifting bricks to find survivors of the latest air raid bombing an earthy atmosphere. Ending on a haunting image possibly referencing the death of his son Klaus Detlef Sierck, (Sirk's ex-wife Lydia Brincken Joined the Nazis and got Klaus to become a child star in Nazi propaganda films,along with barring Sirk from seeing Klaus after Sirk married Jewish actress Hilde Jary. Klaus died as a solider on the then-USSR Ukrainian boarder on 22 May 1944) Sirk and Metty contrast the autumn colours of Ernst Graeber and Elizabeth's romance with an uncomfortable, threatening mood,lit in the casual manner the Nazis sit back and tell Ernst of the latest people they have sent to the concentration camps,brilliantly underlined by a shimmering score from Miklós Rózsa.
Giving his own seal of approval by co-staring in the adaptation of his own book,Orin Jannings take on Erich Maria Remarque's novel takes an intelligent, novel-like approach to Elizabeth and Ernst's romance, starting from a collage of them piecing each others common interests with flirting and tempting asides, to a blossoming romance held by them each willing to risk their lives for the others safety. Hardly featuring any signs of the Allies, Jannings goes behind enemy lines and follows those trapped inside Nazi Germany, where Ernst's time on the battleground has made him well aware of the threat loyal Nazi solders and informants hold towards murdering the Jewish Elizabeth and him.
Appearing in the first of two films for Sirk,John Gavin gives an incredible performance as Ernst,whose romantic side is pinned by Gavin with a quick-witted edge to search for his parents out of sight, and to keep Elizabeth out of the Nazis grip. Looking absolutely beautiful from her first appearance, Liselotte Pulver gives a magnificent performance as Elizabeth,via bringing a real delicate touch to the early stages of the romance,that transforms into a burning passion for Ernst and Elizabeth's desire to fight to make this a time to love.