I haven't seen that much of Marlene Dietrich's work. Not enough to get a comprehensive historical perspective. This film filled in some of the gaps and made me want to seek out more of her movies and to read more about her.
Aside from everything else this documentary presented, the dynamic between Marlene Dietrich and Maximilian Schell alone made it well worth watching.
Schell is obviously a very impressive, accomplished and charismatically attractive guy, no doubt accustomed to getting his way. Especially with women. But even at the advanced age of 82, Marlene Dietrich not only held her own but prevailed against him.
This film makes plain that before she agreed to do this documentary with Schell, Dietrich had spelled out her conditions very specifically. But although she made sure that her terms were all there in black and white in the contract, Maximillian Schell apparently believed that this "contract" was just a formality for getting his foot in the door. And he could then draw on his charms, those that he had so often used to his advantage, to make her drop her conditions to accommodate his vision of the documentary and his path to getting there.
But Marlene Dietrich instead handed him a big surprise. Here was one woman who seemed immune to the Maximillian Schell Onslaught. He could not charm her, he could not cajole her, he could not pressure her, he could not jolly her, he could not dazzle her with his estimable intelligence and good looks.
Dietrich stood firm. She did not appear on camera even though he kept stepping up his insistence that she do so. And at every point along the way, she controlled the information. She told him as much as she wanted him to know and no more.
And who can blame her. She had spent a lifetime of hard work creating this Marlene Dietrich persona and filling it with substance. It wasn't a mirage. Who was he to think that he had the right now, at this point in her life, to define her. She had already earned the right to define herself.
There are a lot of interesting aspects to this documentary. The give and take between the two of them when she calls Maximilian Schell a prima donna and an amateur are more amusing than harsh. When he walks out on her and she spiritedly takes him to task about his wretched manners is quite funny, too.
The ending is also quite powerful. As the film proceeds, you are left with a sense of Marlene Dietrich as this very pragmatic and practical person who mocks and seems impervious to displays of sentimentality. And yet she grows tearful and emotional when Maximillian Schell recites with her a poem from her childhood. Giving a glimpse into the complexities within.
In fact, that is what Schell's documentary accomplished, IMO. It provided a valuable glimpse into the complexities, dualities, and contradictions within.
Aside from everything else this documentary presented, the dynamic between Marlene Dietrich and Maximilian Schell alone made it well worth watching.
Schell is obviously a very impressive, accomplished and charismatically attractive guy, no doubt accustomed to getting his way. Especially with women. But even at the advanced age of 82, Marlene Dietrich not only held her own but prevailed against him.
This film makes plain that before she agreed to do this documentary with Schell, Dietrich had spelled out her conditions very specifically. But although she made sure that her terms were all there in black and white in the contract, Maximillian Schell apparently believed that this "contract" was just a formality for getting his foot in the door. And he could then draw on his charms, those that he had so often used to his advantage, to make her drop her conditions to accommodate his vision of the documentary and his path to getting there.
But Marlene Dietrich instead handed him a big surprise. Here was one woman who seemed immune to the Maximillian Schell Onslaught. He could not charm her, he could not cajole her, he could not pressure her, he could not jolly her, he could not dazzle her with his estimable intelligence and good looks.
Dietrich stood firm. She did not appear on camera even though he kept stepping up his insistence that she do so. And at every point along the way, she controlled the information. She told him as much as she wanted him to know and no more.
And who can blame her. She had spent a lifetime of hard work creating this Marlene Dietrich persona and filling it with substance. It wasn't a mirage. Who was he to think that he had the right now, at this point in her life, to define her. She had already earned the right to define herself.
There are a lot of interesting aspects to this documentary. The give and take between the two of them when she calls Maximilian Schell a prima donna and an amateur are more amusing than harsh. When he walks out on her and she spiritedly takes him to task about his wretched manners is quite funny, too.
The ending is also quite powerful. As the film proceeds, you are left with a sense of Marlene Dietrich as this very pragmatic and practical person who mocks and seems impervious to displays of sentimentality. And yet she grows tearful and emotional when Maximillian Schell recites with her a poem from her childhood. Giving a glimpse into the complexities within.
In fact, that is what Schell's documentary accomplished, IMO. It provided a valuable glimpse into the complexities, dualities, and contradictions within.