Menschen am Sonntag (People on Sunday)
Posted by martinteller on September 10, 2010
Hell of a pedigree… Ulmer, Siodmak, Wilder, and Zinnemann, all before they fled Germany for Hollywood (where they would produce, among other things, some of the finest film noir). Even more impressive: it was the first credit for all of them. Half the story of four young people on a Sunday outing, half a “city symphony” film showing the vibrancy of 1930 Berlin, before everything started getting weird again. On both counts, it’s absolutely lovely… the story is rather thin, but it doesn’t need to be that deep. It’s more of a semi-realist impressionism (I’m sure that term I just made up makes no sense, but whatever). The photography is gorgeous, lots of idyllic little scenes and stunning close-ups. It’s an extremely pleasant film to behold, with some engaging slice of life portraits. Rating: 8
