Annie Hall

Starring:Hy Anzell, Colleen Dewhurst, Shelley Duvall, Russell Horton, Carol Kane, Diane Keaton, Mordecai Lawner, Helen Ludlam, Janet Margolin, Marshall McLuhan, Jonathan Munk, Joan Neuman, Rashel Novikoff, Tony Roberts, Martin Rosenblatt, Paul Simon, Donald Symington, Ruth Volner, Christopher Walken
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with?" conversation. As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk." Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is uncontestable he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's "Grammy Hall" as "a classic Jew-hater."

The relationship arcs, as does Annie's growing desire for independence. It quickly becomes clear that the two are on separate tracks, as what was once endearing becomes annoying. Annie Hall embraces Allen's central themes--his love affair with New York (and hatred of Los Angeles), how impossible relationships are, and his fear of death. But their balance is just right, the chemistry between Allen's worry-wart Alvy and Keaton's gangly, loopy Annie is one of the screen's best pairings. It couldn't be more engaging. --Susan Benson

The World's Fastest Indian
Average customer rating:

Maybe a good story

Great, uplifting movie

Great movie

Not a motorcycle movie

Worlds Fastest Indian

The World's Fastest Indian
Starring: Anthony Hopkins , Iain Rea , Tessa Mitchell , Aaron Murphy (II) , and Tim Shadbolt
Director: Roger Donaldson
Manufacturer: Magnolia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Hopkins, Anthony | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000F8DBDK
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Amazon.com

A movie that exudes affection and goodwill, The World's Fastest Indian is an unabashed mash note to a lovely character from New Zealand's recent past. Burt Munro, played by Anthony Hopkins, is a cantankerous Kiwi with an obsession: he's been tinkering with his 1920s-era Indian brand motorcycle for years, pushing it to ever-faster speeds. It's the 1960s, and Burt has the utterly mad idea of taking the bike to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, site of world records for speed racing. The movie takes a while to get to the journey--and then the journey takes a while--but the genial atmosphere prevails. (People of a certain age, for whom the word "Bonneville" evokes pleasant associations with hotrods and world-speed records, will not be disappointed in the film's location shooting, or its sense of awe.) Hopkins is not quite on-the-money casting for the jovial, happy-go-lucky Munro, and his accent wavers, but he nails the emotional scenes and the fascination with speed. Smaller bits are well-filled by Diane Ladd and Christopher Lawford (son of Peter), who looks uncannily of the era. New Zealand director Roger Donaldson doesn't take any chances here, but the story clearly means something to him, and that sense of commitment carries the film through its sleepier moments. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Maybe a good story.......2007-06-28

But, I'll never know. I quit watching it after all the immoral inuendos. I can't see what is redeeming in this movie except trying to make what is probably a good story and fill it with such questionable and flippant behavior. Way to ruin what is probably a good story.

Great, uplifting movie.......2007-06-12

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Anthony Hopkins is terrific. I highly recommend this film.

Great movie.......2007-06-12

Totally reminded me of my father-in-law. Great gift for all eccentric inventors or speed enthusiasts! Anthony Hopkins is extremely colorful and entertaining in this film.

Not a motorcycle movie.......2007-06-11

I'm an avid rider, but when I saw that Anthony Hopkins had the part of Burt Munro, it was clear this would not be just another motorcycle movie. It's an inspiring journey of faith, hope, courage, talent and perseverance. The motorcycle is only part of the story, albeit a prominent part. This wonderful epic of a wonderful man is filled with inspiration, joy and humor, and will find a place on my list of all-time favorites.

Worlds Fastest Indian.......2007-06-11

Great movie! This was another fantastic job by Anthony Hopkins. Great Family movie!

Average customer rating:

Annie Hall
a classic!
Separating the "Horrible and the Miserable"
One of Woody's Best
A romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original

Annie Hall
Starring: Hy Anzell , Colleen Dewhurst , Shelley Duvall , Russell Horton , and Carol Kane
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 6304907729
Release Date: 2000-05-30

Amazon.com essential video

Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with?" conversation. As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk." Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is uncontestable he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's "Grammy Hall" as "a classic Jew-hater."

Description

Considered to be "Woody Allen's breakthrough movie" (Time), Annie Hall won* four OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture, and established Allen as the premier auteur filmmaker. Thought by many critics to be Allen's magnum opus, Annie Hall confirmed that he had, "completed the journey from comic to humorist, from comedy writer to wit [and] from inventive moviemaker to creative artist" (Saturday Review). Alvy Singer (Allen) is one of Manhattan's most brilliant comedians, but when it comes to romance, his delivery needs a little work. Introduced byhis best friend, Rob (Tony Roberts), Alvy falls in love with the ditzy but delightful nightclub singer, Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). When his own insecurities sabotage the affair, Annie is forced to leave Alvy for a new lifeand lover (Paul Simon)in Los Angeles. Knowing he may have lost Annie forever, Alvy's willing to go to any lengthseven driving L.A.'s freewaysto recapture the only thing that ever mattered'true love. *1977: Picture; Actress (Keaton); Director; Original Screenplay

Customer Reviews:

Annie Hall.......2007-07-03

One of the great modern love stories, the charming "Annie Hall" has Allen essentially playing himself, with Keaton's sweet, spacy Annie providing an inspired foil. Aside from its examination of contemporary relationships, the movie hilariously contrasts the flavor and essence of New York with sunny, hip Los Angeles, that sprawl on the West Coast which, to Allen's mind, is definitely alien territory. Touching, true, and extremely funny, this is Woody's peak.

a classic!.......2007-06-29

This film marks the pinnacle of Woody's career, introducing the main themes later rehearsed to death in subsequent projects. A self-conscious neurotic quippy self-flagellating Jewish comedian meets a juicy self-conscious WASP, wooing her, rejecting her and after being rejected himself longing for a life that could have been. There is always an aura of sadness about Allen's films - a sadness of masculinity longed for and never realized, of self-contempt burning in someone who knows he can't ever escape the intellectual mindtrap that epitomizes the 'New Yorker' crowd. While Allen appears to despise the greed, snobbery and pretentiousness of this crowd, he always seems paralyzed and unable to find his way out of the mousetrap.

Annie Hall is a genuinely funny and profound film. Alvyn knows the New Yorker crowd lacks something that would fulfill his longing. He knows that 'Annie' represents his one chance to escape the straightjacket of empty intellectual poseurism. The self-revelatory autobiographical element are bittersweet as the viewer becomes all too aware that Alvyn fails the challenge of his life. the very character trait that makes him funny makes him incapable of being able to hold, endure and accept Annie for who she is . The film is, for me, a lesson showing how not to be a man. A demonstration of the consequences of not being able to love fully, of being unable to disappear into surrender.

Both Keaton and Allen do a fantastic acting job basically playing themselves. While Allen never surpasses the quirkines, the bittersweet lightness of the Annie Hall's Alvyn character, Keaton's best moments come in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" made in the same year.

Separating the "Horrible and the Miserable".......2007-06-17

Before 'Borat' Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition) confronted anti-Semitism, and Seinfeld Seinfeld - Season 7 did brilliant comedy about "nothing," 'Annie Hall' said a great deal about a lot of things of varying magnitude in this funny Woody Allen movie masterpiece. Taking place, of course, in New York City, Allen's nearly autobiographical alter ego, Alvy Singer, has an on-again, off-again romance with the titled character (Diane Keaton) who is his soul mate and counterpart to his own labored existence. Episodic to be sure, Allen's directing and co-writing take everything bothersome and makes it into an honest labor of love. (Alvy, too, is a stand-up comic who spars about anything from strained love relationships to Republican politics. Not to mention both have that eloquent obssession with "sex and death".) While Alvy always seems maladjusted, he is unable to cope without Annie who, while from Chippewa Falls, WI, can relate to him and help him through the shipwreck of his nuerotic life.

'Annie Hall' is exceptionally funny. In one scene Annie is relating a dream to Alvy where "Frank Sinatra is suffocating" her. Alvy, quick to psychoanalysis, immediately says that she is suffocating her career as a singer. She counters that her therapist says that it is he who is suffocating her because his last name in Singer. (And by all means psychology gets a comedic thrashing many times.) While thinking aloud on the street, Alvy stops a couple to ask them roughly why they seemed so happy. "Basically, I'm shallow," she confides. "I'm basically shallow, too," he adds. In another scene he talks to his friend (Tony Roberts), where he relates talking to a dinner guest. He talks about the meal and tells of a companion who said, "I had salad. Didjyou?" To which they both debate anti-semitism. There's also a split-screen scene where Alvie and Annie are each talking to their pyschiatrists and the differences are acutely funny. (One should also add that Allen did more in these few minutes than 'Conversations with Other Women' did in a whole movie.) Pet peeves are also confronted to provide creator and audience with plenty of therapeutic laughs.

'Annie Hall' is just delightful fun. Chockful of wit and candor, it is a sustaining comedic classic. (Also with cameo appearances by Shelly Duvall as a 'Rolling Stone' reporter and Paul Simon.)

One of Woody's Best.......2007-06-11

Annie Hall is one of the best Woody Allen movies out there. It features Dianne Keaton in one of her best performances, and is a thoroughly enjoyable movie with great wit and humor. If you are ever tempted to rent or buy one of the new below average movies put out so often by Hollywood nowadays, rethink the decision and watch this instead. Some great fun and the New York v. Los Angeles debate that is often a basis of Woody' humor, is in great form here. 5 Stars.

A romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original.......2007-06-05

Full of neuroses and classic comedy bits, Woody Allen's Annie Hall is that rare breed of movie: a romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original.

Allen's character, a neurotic standup comic named Alvy Singer, meets free-spirited Annie Hall (played with superb wit and energy by a young Diane Keaton). Their on-again-off-again romance flows throughout the movie leading both of them on a roller coaster of emotions that they both want to stay on and get off of at the same time.

Annie Hall features cameos from several of today's stars, although when Annie Hall was filmed these actors were just dayplayers. It's a veritable who's-who of small parts. Jeff Goldblum as a party guest, Sigourney Weaver as one of Alvy's dates, Beverly D'Angelo as a character in a TV show, Truman Capote as a Truman Capote lookalike, and Christopher Walken as Annie's slightly off-kilter brother. Paul Simon also makes an extended appearance as musician Tony Lacey.

Annie Hall is the first Woody Allen movie I've seen, and now I can't believe I waited this long. If you're going to see one Woody Allen movie, or just one movie, make it Annie Hall. You won't be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

Great gift item
Great DVD!
TRES CHARMANT!
Do you want to move to France?
A Delight in Provence

A Year in Provence
Starring: John Thaw , Lindsay Duncan , Jean-Pierre Delage , Jo Doumerg , and Marcel Champel
Director: David Tucker
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005NKCN
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Amazon.com

A Year in Provence, the made-for-TV version of the bestselling book by Peter Mayle, captures a year in the lives of Brits Mayle (John Thaw) and his wife Annie (Lindsay Duncan) in southern France. The Mayles both revel in and endure what for most would be a fantasy experience: leaving dull jobs, acquiring an old farmhouse in Provence, and (for Peter) attempting to write a novel in the midst of bucolic countryside, gourmet food and drink, and interesting people. With an Agatha Christie-meets-To the Manor Born sensibility, the Mayles brave mistral winds, truffle season and the Mafia that surrounds it, exasperating neighbors, constant summer guests, an attempt at old-fashioned winemaking, and a Father Christmas drama--all while trying to renovate their kitchen.

This is not an in-depth look at expatriate living; rather, Mayle gives us a pastiche of the comedic situations he and his wife find themselves in. Some viewers may yearn for more shots of the scenic locations and a more serious treatment of Provençal culture, but most will find this a whimsical adventure and an entertaining slice of fantasy meets reality. --Stefanie Durbin

Customer Reviews:

Great gift item.......2007-06-14

My Sister loved Peter Mahle's books so I got her the DVD moive they made of it. She was very pleased!

Great DVD!.......2007-06-12

My wife and I watched both DVDs in the set this weekend. It was great! Very funny and very interesting. It should be required viewing for anyone considering moving overseas, regardless of the country. Your move will be what you make of it and how much work you're willing to do to try and "fit in". The Mayle's did their best to learn the language and culture, to make friends, to attend and have parties, etc. They also learned what true friendship is all about along the way, and that patience truly is a virture. The story about the "big house" and the rooster will floor you!

TRES CHARMANT!.......2007-04-07

This DVD is loosely based on Peter Mayle's books starting with "A Year in Provence". I have read some of his books and it was interesting to compare the characters and the stories. It seems that the characters in the DVD are somewhat exaggerated and many of the stories do not even derive from Peter Mayle's books. I also noticed that for some reason, Peter Mayle wife's name was changed. I loved seeing the Provencal scenery. I have visited this beautiful region and it's intoxicating. Although this DVD is in English, I felt that there were too many instances where certain characters would only speak in French (with no subtitles) leaving the viewer wondering what exactly they were saying. Although I know some French, I was lost once they started speaking fast. But regardless, it's very entertaining and a great value purchased on Amazon.

Do you want to move to France?.......2007-03-09

I bought this without ever having heard of it before. I really love some of the older British series, like All Creatures Great and Small, and The Irish R.M., so I thought I would try this one. It was worth it. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to move to another country, without being able to speak the language very well, this will give you a little insight. The show is slower paced, which doesn't appeal to everyone; but it has some good comedy at times, and made me wish I lived in a less hectic world like in this show. One of the best things I liked about it was how you could understand the basics of what a person was saying in French, without understanding a word of it. Sometimes some basic words would be said in English by the English actors, other times it was a matter of figuring it out. This is a great program to watch when you just want to sit and relax for a little while. It is divided into 30 minute segments, one for each month of the year.

A Delight in Provence.......2007-03-08

Except for the title and the two main characters, A Year in Provence is nothing like the book. But put that aside and take it for what it is, a delightful look at adopting a place and its people. It's a story that makes you laugh at the different and sometimes smelly people in this small town. And it will touch you when they open their hearts to the Brits. The hacking in combining the French & English languages is truely outrageous, and make sure you listen to the way the Parisian pronounce the word house. Salute & enjoy!

Average customer rating:

so awesome.
Monster In The Closet
Wonderful Campy Horror Movie
Quick! Grab The Xylophone And The Kazoo!
MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET stars Fergie of Black Eyed Peas

Monster in the Closet
Starring: Donald Grant , Denise DuBarry , Claude Akins , Howard Duff , and Henry Gibson
Director: Bob Dahlin
Manufacturer: TROMA ENTERTAINMENT INC.
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ASIN: B000009RBL
Release Date: 1998-11-10

Description

Claude Akins John Carradine Jesse White and Stella Stevens headline this humorous and skillful parody of 50's horror films. The monster (Kevin Peter Hall) hides out in closets and waits for victims to unsuspectingly grab a shirt or slacks before he reduces them to dead meat. After several closet deaths, a writer (Donald Grant) sent to cover the story soon teams up with a science teacher (Denise DuBarry) and her son, a super-smart child prodigy, and they set out to solve the murders. The plot thickens when the gruff, brash Gen. Turnbull (Donald Moffat) enters the picture. It seems the monster is bullet-proof, laser-proof and bomb-proof -- a challenge to capture, kill, or subdue. This 80's horror hit classic offers fun for all as America joins together to battle the monster in the closet. This DVD comes fully loaded with the premiere episode of the Toxic Crusaders TV show, production stills, an episode of Troma's Edge TV and the first ever tour of Troma studios.

Customer Reviews:

so awesome........2007-03-11

as far as b-movies go, this one is an instant classic. The monster alone is too funny. If you are a collector or enjoy cheesy horror/sci fi nonsense you should pick this one up. Not incredibly violent, but very ridiculous.

Monster In The Closet.......2006-02-26

This is a hilarious low-tech movie that most people can enjoy. It is not overdone with loud unrealistic Special Effects that destroy the pleasure of current horror flicks. The movie is done in a straight-up CAMPY style, even the faint of heart will be won over. When I reflect on some of the scenes I still burst out with laughter!

Wonderful Campy Horror Movie.......2004-10-18

Let me first start off by saying this...do not see this movie if you are expecting a serious, epic horror film. It's not that at all. But for fans of campy movies such as those old monster movies, then you will love this! Also, Stacy Ferguson (Fergie, from Black Eyed Peas) has a short little part in the movie, she's in like the first scene. It's kind of weird seeing her so young, since I never watched Kids Incorporated. But, all in all, a good movie for campy horror film fans!

Quick! Grab The Xylophone And The Kazoo!.......2004-07-12

This rare film, made with lots of personal sacrifice from the cast and crew, is well worth the effort to seek out. "Monster In The Closet" is a satire of formulaic monster movies, and is done with great wit and charm on a low budget. The story concerns a mysterious set of serial murders in which all victims are killed in their closets. Early victims include the horror movie institution, John Carradine, this time as a cranky blind man who gets eaten.

A spittoon-toting Sheriff (Claude Akins) tries to defeat the monster while ignoring scientific counsel from scientists Denise Dubarry and Henry Gibson. Gibson is particularly entertaining as a half-baked forgetful professor who thinks he can communicate with the creature via a xylophone (he can, as it turns out, not that it does him any good), and is forever prattling on about a frog he once found. The male lead is Donald Grant, who does a great job as the naive 'Pretty Boy' reporter sent to cover the story as harassment by veteran reporter "Scoop" played by Frank Ashmore. I have never been as pleased in a movie as when Grant stands up to Ashmore.

When the creature finally does show up it is a gross looking kind of excrement monster with a second sub-head in a spoof of "Alien", which actually can be communicated with. In the end not only does Gibson get to chat with the creature via the xylophone, but Grant gets to chat via kazoo, as well. The Army seems powerless to do anything, a romance subplot flourishes, and we get to what would seem to be the climactic scene of the film. There is a great twist in the last 15 minutes, which I did not see coming, and probably most other people won't either. Suffice it to say, it is silly, involves a lot of property mutilation that I would not want to explain to my Homeowner's policy issuer, love, self-sacrifice (sort of), and hope springing eternal. (And ultimately a lot of expensive remodeling.)

The film is a great, cheesy, fun movie to watch (best with friends) and I highly recommend it. Troma distributes it, but did not produce it, so it is not typical Troma fare. It is not particularly violent (except the scenes of violent closet disruption and some Army efforts at the grade school) or gory (well, OK, the monster mouth is pretty nasty), has little objectionable except one fairly gratuitous scene of Stella Stevens in an excellent "Psycho" parody, and is just plain fun.

Watch a great low budget movie and see why B Movies can be so much fun. Grab "Monster In The Closet" today!

MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET stars Fergie of Black Eyed Peas.......2004-05-20

Stacy Ferguson, also none a Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, Kids incorporated star from 1983-1989, and former member of Wild Orchid, has a short role in this movie. Shes the lil blonde girl. Shes so cute in it lol. Its a must have for any fans of fergie. She was like 11 in it lol.

Description

The Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, directed by Maximilian Schell. After years of public silence, the legendary Marlene Dietrich personality selected Schell to make an interview film about her. "Marlene" is no standard movie star documentary. It is a mystery story, a discourse on truth and fiction, a battle with a sacred monster, a caustic comedy of errors, and the story of the making of a film, all rolled into one.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Documentary.......2005-09-09

Marlene Dietrich was a recluse in her later years. According to her daughter's memoirs, she spent most of her time withering her famous legs away in bed, not leaving for days and weeks at a time. It is amazing that she let Maximillian Schell into her home to interview her for a documentary, even if she did not allow him to film her. She knew she was being difficult, but she also felt she was doing him a favor.

Faced with a difficult predicament, Schell artistically filmed a recreated home filled with Dietrich memorabilia, look-alikes, and footage from Dietrich movies. It does not go in sequence; when Schell tells Dietrich this in the movie, she seems pleased. The ending is insane and well edited. Everything blurs together and sort of serves as an outlet for Schell's frustrations during creating the documentary, I'm sure.

Half of the interviews were conducted in German and half were done in English, so one must read subtitles unless one speaks both languages. It is nice to hear Marlene speak in her native tongue; she often says "quatsch," or "nonsense" in German. She is stubborn and opinionated, sometimes contradicts herself, but is always interesting. She speaks against feminism, being critical of her, and anything kitschy.

Dietrich did not want the film released when she saw it. She thought it made her look bad and tarnished her legend. In fact, it made me love her more. Dietrich is not a sugary sweet figure and never has been. This documentary emphasizes that point. She was insanely stubborn and opinionated, often comically and always respectably. However, the finale of the film shows Dietrich in her last film singing "Just a Gigolo" quite emotionally. Then she recites a sad poem along with Schell and breaks down in the middle of it. It is obvious that Marlene Dietrich was not the hard-as-nails figure she always wanted herself to appear to be; she had a heart. It is revealed in this film.

If you like Marlene - you must have this documentary.......2003-08-09

A very special documentary made by actor/director Maximilian Schell. Marlene herself didn't agree to let her be filmed so you only hear her voice taped in her apartment in Paris. Doesn't matter. Hear when she sings and tells, hear her anger when Maximilian insist on filming her or want her to look at her films, hear her gently, sentimentally crying over her "Heimat" Berlin. And see for your self how Schell have succeded to make a great motion picture without beeing able to photograph the leading lady. Nominated for Academy Award.

Scheen!!!.......2002-04-17

It's a really nice film and if you like it, you have to see the german film called "Marlene". ... Marlene is played by Katja Flint. Of course it's all in german, but you can understand all, even if you can't speak one word! ...

Scheen!!!.......2002-04-17

It's a really nice film and if you like it, you have to see the german film called "Marlene". It`s only to get at amazon.de! Marlene is played by Katja Flint. Of course it's all in german, but you can understand all, even if you can't speak one word...

The Lowdown on Maria Magdalene von Losch.......2001-05-17

It's illustrative of Marlene Dietrich's clout that nearly all English speakers pronounce her name more or less correctly. (OK, so my own father did not: he made it rhyme with "Darlene," but I suspect he was in the minority.) As a former German teacher myself, this fact has some significance to me. I used to struggle to teach my students that a final "e" in German was nearly always pronounced as a "schwa" sound (an unemphasized "uh"). Somehow though, even people who knew how to pronounce "danke," "bitte," "Rilke" and even "Goethe" would still seem to remain puzzled by an orthography that is actually more consistent than our own.

When you're a true star, though, you get to insist on people pronouncing your name right. In that Marlene had a (shapely) leg up on such other prominent German performers as Elke Sommer, Lotte Lenya or Ute Lemper. You also get to pull stunts like agreeing to allow someone to do a documentary on your life and work (that "someone" being Maximilian Schell) and then utterly refusing to let him put you on camera. Or for that matter, to let his crew film ANYTHING in your apartment.

Well, if life hands you a lemon, you make lemonade, right? And so Maximilian Schell wound up making a documentary less about Marlene Dietrich than about the near impossibility of making a documentary with a cantakerously uncooperative subject.

Schell ends up reconstructing Dietrich's Paris digs in the studio. Her taped interviews are played over scenes from her films, from performance clips and from shots from various newsreels. The effect is haunting. The viewer shares Schell's exasperation with his temperamental subject. Is it possible to ever truly fathom this woman's character? It's more than a matter of a former beauty refusing to be photographed: she refuses to let herself be truly known at all. Any penetrating question or observation is dismissed as "Quatsch" (nonsense). Her life, her films, her status as a cultural icon--none of that interests her anymore, or so she claims. Ostensibly, the reclusive screen legend is more accessible than a Garbo, say, who would never even allow herself to be interviewed. But in her steadfast refusal to reveal herself in any significant way, she remains as remote and impenetrable as Garbo ever was. Maybe more so.

I watched this film recently, right after viewing the documentary "Nico Icon"--about another enigmatic German-born singer-actress. It made for a fascinating double bill. Nico, of course, was of a different, more jaded era, but she was once labeled "another cooler Dietrich for another cooler generation." Of course, the Andy Warhol "Superstar" (always meant as an ironic appellation anyway) never actually achieved the level of fame that her countrywoman did in her time. The younger woman, in fact, totally lacked the drive and ambition that Dietrich possessed in spades. Ironic then, that both ended up (pretty much at the same time in history) as recluses in Paris. Of course the Hollywood star lived there in splendor, while the former "Superstar," now a junkie, lived in absolute squalor. Both women withdrew into the shadows, while living in the City of Lights. The difference, of course, is that Dietrich could afford to pay her electric bill. Perhaps the one image that best sums up the difference between these two iconic German women--and, to some extent, the generations that they came to represent--is the stock footage of bombed out Berlin that is used in both films. For Dietrich it represents the world she was fortunate enough to be able to leave behind: for Nico, it was the world in which she grew up. (Both "Marlene" and "Nico Icon" are available on DVD and are highly recommended.)

A Year in Provence
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A Year in Provence
Starring: John Thaw , Lindsay Duncan , Jean-Pierre Delage , Jo Doumerg , and Marcel Champel
Director: David Tucker
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A Year in Provence

ASIN: B00005MFJT

Academy Awards Best Picture Collection, Vol. 2
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Academy Awards Best Picture Collection, Vol. 2

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ASIN: B000RKPSR8
Release Date: 2007-07-03

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This DVD collection contains six Academy Award-winners for Best Picture, including: Platoon, Rocky, The Silence of the Lambs, West Side Story, Annie Hall, and Midnight Cowboy.