Sorry, this movie sucks

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Lack of good storyline.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

You remember when Melanie sang 'I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key"? The subliminal subtext was more than palpable, and it's what I immediately thought of when Lola Lola sang "But I don't let any man lay a paw on my keys". When Melanie Safka wrote her song there wasn't any hidden agenda there, she said "I thought it was cute; a kind of old thirties tune", while people hearing it read their own ideas into the lyrics. Well, so much for that.This film just struck me the wrong way on all kinds of levels. There's no way I could rationalize the attraction Lola (Marlene Dietrich) could have had for Professor Rath (Emil Jannings). I could see it going the other way of course, who wouldn't, but at the same time, the Professor would not have had a realistic view of himself to have fallen for a cabaret singer like Lola. Sure, the physical attraction was there, but throwing one's own life away for an unattainable goal seemed quite unrealistic. And yet, she married him anyway. Wow, I don't get it.It's difficult for me to figure out what director von Sternburg was trying to convey here. Throughout, I never got the impression that Lola loved Rath, and after four years of married life she threw him over for the Maestro Mazeppa (Hans Albers), another man for whom there didn't seem to be any attraction. Rath going berserk and getting the strait jacket treatment was probably the most realistic aspect of the story for me, otherwise most of the film just didn't resonate with this viewer.

Der blaue Engel is the story about a totally dysfunctional marriage. When I saw the film for the first time, many years ago, I found it a depressing and nasty sight. For professor Rath, the spindle in the plot, is attached to love in the same way as an addict to hard drugs. He may not be the brightest person in the room, but at first he is a well respected member of his small community, and reasonably happy. But at the end, a few years later, he is just a wreck, and probably dead. My love for you, it came and went, so your feet are now in wet cement. I found it hard to believe that passion could completely destroy a sound character. It looked like a melodrama - which I detest. Nevertheless, Der blaue Engel deserves a second chance. For recently I saw the film again, and this time the narrative impressed me. The events are quite symbolic. In the first scene Rath whistles for his parakeet, but it has died. Rath is socially less clever than his pupils, with the exception of one, who is therefore nagged by his comrades. It is a tough school, they have their own coroner (joking). Rath is myopic and can not control his pupils. Later Rath meets the singer Lola, when he tries to withdraw his pupils from her bad influence. Lola makes cluck-cluck sounds, and Rat crows, indicating that there is an immediate and intuitive understanding. Naturally they marry. But Rath can not find his place in this troupe of performers. He ends as an unsound clown, who is only funny when eggs are smashed on his scull. It is understandable that Rat is soon a broken man. With a last effort he stumbles back to his school, and collapses into his old chair. His hand seize the writing desk, with such a strength, that the passing janitor is unable to remove Rath. Is he dead? Has he joined his parakeet? So, on second thoughts, Der blaue Engel has funny and comic elements. Rath is a born loser, with a resemblance with Laurel and Hardy, or Chaplin. If you are able to abstract from the melodrama, then Der blaue Engel is definitely recommendable. Don't forget to leave comments. I love it.

I enjoyed this film a lot. It had good character establishment/development, good acting besides some over-obviousness at some points (which was characteristic of films in this era, so can't knock it too much). There was a multitude of great shots, creative angles, and innovative choices in editing- far more than I expected in a film from this time. The sound was clear and the lighting was impeccable. It was the most clean/professional-looking film thus far on my watchlist. The characters were very, very interesting. Lola Lola was hot and so was her attitude. Great performance by her, for sure, but the professor was truly outstanding. The range of emotions his character went through was so expansive, and so excellently portrayed. Great performances all around. The story was good, absolutely. Interesting, sexy, exciting, scary, tragic, and imperfect, of course. One thing I'm still adjusting to with watching old films is how insanely fast people fall in love??? It's like they have one good exchange and then they're embracing each other, grasping each other's biceps firmly with this abrupt burst of passion and commitment, touching noses. No one falls in love that fast. I don't know if their standards were different in real life back then or if they just hadn't worked out how to tell a story where love grows gradually instead of shooting up into the sky. It felt a little bit like lazy story-telling, but only on the romance level. The rest of it had normal pacing, for the most parts. It had its slow, boring moments, but it wasn't too bad. I guess the pacing was kinda weird, rather uneven. The professor's change in character was gradual, foreshadowed, and it made sense- but other developments I found were much too abrupt, without explanation. Anyway, I liked this film a lot. I do recommend it for a viewing. The conclusion was great, mildly disturbing. I wouldn't mind watching it again someday but I don't feel a need to include it in my collection anytime soon. 8/10 Bye love you

Seems like director Von Sternberg had an axe to grind with men or the middle class. Emil Janning's Professor is staid and repressed but seems like a decent person and I don't know why he must be seen to lose it so much, if, as the director said, this was not a political allegory. That is either disingenuous or the Professor is not the stable person he seems the first 2/3 of the film. The only other explanation is that Von Sternberg sees Lola (the amazing Marlene Dietrich) as a very destructive person. I found this an overly melodramatic film which makes a cartoonish depiction of a middle-class German. The acting is fantastic from Dietrich and Jannings but I found this a baffling film. I had expected that the Professor would fall in love and they would have a more stable relationship, but their relationship falls apart when the Professor is completely irrational at the attention his wife is getting. While this isn't unreasonable, that he becomes SO unhinged seems really unlikely. I don't understand why his seemingly sweet wife and also someone who seemed deeply in love with him turns away from him so quickly. If Von Sternberg wanted to make that storyline, they should have made the Professor a bit more unlikable. This was really a disappointing film. I hoped for a more nuanced, thoughtful depiction of a man learning to see the beauty in things he had previously looked down on. Von Sternberg makes the Professor a baffling character through which there is no throughline from his character before and after marrying Lola.