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Dietrich Icon
Few movie stars have meant as many things to as many different audiences as the iconic Marlene Dietrich. The actress-chanteuse had a career of some seventy one that included not only classical Hollywood cinema and the concert hall but also silent film in Weimar Germany, theater, musical comedy, vaudeville, army camp shows, radio, recordings, television, and even the circus. Having renounced and left Nazi Germany, assumed American citizenship, and entertained American troops, Dietrich has long been a flashpoint in Germany’s struggles over its cultural heritage. She has also figured prominently in European and American film scholarship, in studies ranging from analyses of the directors with whom she worked to theories about the ideological and psychic functions of film. Dietrich Icon , which includes essays by established and emerging film scholars, is a unique examination of the many meanings of Dietrich. Some of the essays in this collection revisit such familiar topics as Germany’s complex relationship with Dietrich, her ambiguous sexuality, her place in the lesbian archive, her star status, and her legendary legs, but with fresh critical perspective and an emphasis on historical background. Other essays establish new avenues for understanding Dietrich’s persona. Among these are a reading of Marlene Dietrich’s ABC —an eclectic autobiographical compendium containing Dietrich’s thoughts on such diverse subjects as “steak,” “Sternberg (Joseph von),” “Stravinsky,” and “stupidity”—and an argument that Dietrich manipulated her voice—through her accent, sexual innuendo, and singing—as much as her visual image in order to convey a cosmopolitan world-weariness. Still other essays consider the specter of aging that loomed over Dietrich’s career, as well as the many imitations of the Dietrich persona that have emerged since the star’s death in 1992. Contributors . Nora M. Alter, Steven Bach, Elisabeth Bronfen, Erica Carter, Mary R. Desjardins, Joseph Garncarz, Gerd Gemünden, Mary Beth Haralovich, Amelie Hastie, Lutz Koepnick, Alice A. Kuzniar, Amy Lawrence, Judith Mayne, Patrice Petro, Eric Rentschler, Gaylyn Studlar, Werner Sudendorf, Mark Williams
432 pages, Paperback
First published March 22, 2007
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 28, 2009
Finally finished this book! Very, very interesting and a must-have book for any major Dietrich fan. 17 essays on all-things Dietrich.
The back promises that are "all expressed in clear and readable language, devoid of 'jargon.'" This frightens me a tad, because I thought many of the essays were drowning in jargon. This was not an easy walk in the park book. Barthes, Mulvey, Eisner, de Beauvoir, and other usual suspects all pop up repeatedly--but I guess that's to be expected. Also recommend to those interested in this book to watch a dozen or so Dietrich movies (especially Blue Angel, Morocco, Blonde Venus, and Rancho Notorious), and a few biographies on her in advance.
The first essay in the book "Falling in Love Again" about Dietrich's post-Hollywood return to live audience was my favorite in the book, and is in the running for one of my favorite essays of all time. Not sure if it's because it precisely and beautifully summed up how I personally envision Marlene or if that's my preferred Marlene phase, but that one alone makes this book worthy.
Few observations:
1) It's interesting how many of the essays had prolonged comparisons to Garbo. Books on Garbo do not reciprocate with lengthy analysis of Dietrich. I think the comparison is disingenuous and lazy, unless you're going to do an essay on just that (which would probably be pretty good). Otherwise, quit it. Would be like reading a collection of essays on Katherine Hepburn and have Luise Rainer mentioned every page or so.
2) Half and half. I'd say half of the essays are amazing and really challenged me to think long and hard on certain topics (censorship, aging, masks)--the other half were mediocre or exasperating.
It's a flaw in academic writing perhaps--to have one good point but to flog that one good point into the ground until the reader no longer really cares and is hostile to the thesis. Some of the essays I hated the most were ones I agreed with at the beginning, but I don't want to read the same thing over and over again, just phrased more complexly for twenty pages. Especially when good parallels could be made or other examples and conclusions to be drawn from it. Then I just get surly and suspect the author's main goal is to show off just how smart and well-read they are and could care less about the topic at hand.
3) It does say something though about not just the quality of the good essays, but the subject herself that after finishing the 400+ pages, I was sad. This could easily be the first of many volumes in the same theme. You would think that the topic of Dietrich would be exhausted after all that, but no. I could come up with 17 more topics on Dietrich not covered in this book that would be interesting to read. It's something uniquely Dietrich, in that she is the ultimate chameleon that can be read a hundred different ways, but is still to the core Marlene. (If that makes any sense.)
The back promises that are "all expressed in clear and readable language, devoid of 'jargon.'" This frightens me a tad, because I thought many of the essays were drowning in jargon. This was not an easy walk in the park book. Barthes, Mulvey, Eisner, de Beauvoir, and other usual suspects all pop up repeatedly--but I guess that's to be expected. Also recommend to those interested in this book to watch a dozen or so Dietrich movies (especially Blue Angel, Morocco, Blonde Venus, and Rancho Notorious), and a few biographies on her in advance.
The first essay in the book "Falling in Love Again" about Dietrich's post-Hollywood return to live audience was my favorite in the book, and is in the running for one of my favorite essays of all time. Not sure if it's because it precisely and beautifully summed up how I personally envision Marlene or if that's my preferred Marlene phase, but that one alone makes this book worthy.
Few observations:
1) It's interesting how many of the essays had prolonged comparisons to Garbo. Books on Garbo do not reciprocate with lengthy analysis of Dietrich. I think the comparison is disingenuous and lazy, unless you're going to do an essay on just that (which would probably be pretty good). Otherwise, quit it. Would be like reading a collection of essays on Katherine Hepburn and have Luise Rainer mentioned every page or so.
2) Half and half. I'd say half of the essays are amazing and really challenged me to think long and hard on certain topics (censorship, aging, masks)--the other half were mediocre or exasperating.
It's a flaw in academic writing perhaps--to have one good point but to flog that one good point into the ground until the reader no longer really cares and is hostile to the thesis. Some of the essays I hated the most were ones I agreed with at the beginning, but I don't want to read the same thing over and over again, just phrased more complexly for twenty pages. Especially when good parallels could be made or other examples and conclusions to be drawn from it. Then I just get surly and suspect the author's main goal is to show off just how smart and well-read they are and could care less about the topic at hand.
3) It does say something though about not just the quality of the good essays, but the subject herself that after finishing the 400+ pages, I was sad. This could easily be the first of many volumes in the same theme. You would think that the topic of Dietrich would be exhausted after all that, but no. I could come up with 17 more topics on Dietrich not covered in this book that would be interesting to read. It's something uniquely Dietrich, in that she is the ultimate chameleon that can be read a hundred different ways, but is still to the core Marlene. (If that makes any sense.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review