Boring
Honestly, if you look at other reviews, it’s very clear if you are not here to watch Marlene Dietrich this film has absolutely no substance. This is another example of how so often, films of this era struggle to cobble together more than one person with any on-screen charisma.
“Don’t you find respectable people terribly dull…” the film asks, before proceeding to do nothing overtly disrespectable. In fact, the protagonist wins over the heart of the evangelical man by simply praying once. Films from the 30s up until the 60s quite frankly adore this aloof, laconic archetype, and I just can’t find myself getting behind it very often. On the Waterfront is an example where Brando starts as this character, but that film has a plot and a supporting cast that keep me engaged until the character development occurs and you finally want to root for him.
The turn in this film occurs when Marlene sacrifices herself to the militia leader in order to free her ex-husband. However, once the husband is released, they then simply break her out of confinement, killing the militia leader almost immediately. Dietrich makes a huge sacrifice but experiences no real consequences, as she is instantly broken out. I would have liked to see, for example, the group leave and then a more intricate escape take place while maybe we see her in captivity. But by giving no time for the film to stew in her sacrifice, it nullifies it completely. Then she plays it off as if she would have made the sacrifice for anyone? By the end, they manage to make amends, but I really didn’t enjoy this film. They give her no agency. She gives herself over, but within minutes she is then broken free.
Finally, why does every character feel the need to frame whatever is happening through the lens of their particular shtick? “Oh, let’s gamble on this.” “How will this affect my dog?” [Insert basic French sentence here] “What would God think?” It becomes exhausting, watching each character reduce every moment to their one defining quirk.
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