I think we learn much more about Dietrich than we would have if she had submitted to the usual paint-by-numbers, fawning Biography Channel type of film.
Comment
10/26/09
Marlene (1987)
100
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:5
Fresh:5
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: Actor/director Maximilian Schell's award-winning homage to one of Hollywood's most seductive and enigmatic stars: Marlene Dietrich. Despite her vehement protests about being the subject of his... [More]
Reviews for Marlene
1 - 5 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
The result is a fascinating document, not only of the star herself, but also of the documentary as personal process.
10/10/09
The bilingual parrying between the withholding diva and her frustrated chronicler often seems like Sunset Boulevard re-imagined as a radio play, with sex removed from the equation but marlenus interruptus aplenty.
10/05/09
Schell uses the limiting conditions-Dietrich did't let him photograph her-to an advantage, resulting in a revelatory work that's more interesting because of the combative relationship with his subject, a star wishing to keep control to the bitter end
08/13/07
At once enigmatic, deliberately obfuscating in nature and extremely revealing.
08/18/05
1 - 5 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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