MY LIFE FOR ZARAH LEANDER
A film review by Manavendra K. Thakur
Copyright 1987 Manavendra K. Thakur
Seen at the Boston Film Festival:
1985 MY LIFE FOR ZARAH LEANDER 83 mins.
West Germany-USA German with English subtitles Unrated Mono Color with B/W archival footage 16mm/1.33
Cast: Zarah Leander, Paul Seiler, Armand, Margot Hielscher, Rolf Hansen, Douglas Sirk, Michael Jary, Bruno Balz, Prof. Rolf Kutschera, Hans Weigel, Harold Prince, and Karl Schoenboeck
Credits: Director, Producer, Editor, Director of Photography, Sound: Christian Blackwood
Studio/Distributor: Christian Blackwood Productions
115 Bank St.
New York, NY 10014
(212) 242-6260
Zarah Leander, a Swedish-born chanteuse actress who became popular in Germany during the reign of the Third Reich in the 1930s and 1940s, is the subject of this fascinating documentary by Christian Blackwood. The film presents the enigmatic and multi-faceted personality of Zarah Leander through both archival footage as well as the eyes of an obsessive fan of hers, Paul Seiler. This dual approach keeps alive the memory of a famous figure from the past, but the film's value in exploring the private motivations of Zarah Leander's fandom far exceeds its historical description of her stardom.
Zarah Leander had unique features that attracted the attention and adulation of many fans in Nazi Germany, especially in the homosexual community of the time. Her broad features, husky physique, and deep singing voice made her a much more masculine presence than Marlene Deitrich. She starred in a series of melodramas that were revered by her fans, both for her acting and her singing.
She was frightened of growing old, and she repeatedly tried to stage comebacks by singing her old hits to the accompaniment of her husband on the piano. The loss of her youthful beauty had unfortunately devastated her and her career, and she could not understand why current audiences devoted their attentions elsewhere. Blackwood depicts her rise and fall through numerous interviews with songwriters and directors who worked with her in the 1940s and 1950s. He also shows footage from her films as well as concerts she gave after her fame declined.
Blackwood also presents interviews with Zarah Leander in which another aspect of her personality becomes apparent: her complete lack of any political compunctions against working within the Nazi regime. In one particularly telling scene, she says that the adulation that she received from her fans was all that was important to her. What her fans did the rest of the time, she declares, was none of her concern. This uncompromising refusal to accept political realities undoubtedly was a factor in her decline as contemporary audiences were loathe to revere a figure so closely identified with the Nazi regime.
But at one time she was quite famous. Her ability to fascinate her audience is shown in this film through Paul Seiler, a homosexual and a fan who first heard Zarah Leander on Swiss radio in 1943 and finally met with her personally in 1955. He soon became her confidant, and she became the "super-mother" figure he craved to replace the loss of his mother in childhood. Paul Seiler plastered his apartment walls with photographs and articles about her. He would console her after a bad performance or critical review, and he would follow her where ever her schedule demanded. Her decline from fame and death in 1981 had a severe effect on him. While attending an auction of clothing and other memorabilia associated with Zarah Leander, he becomes outraged that other bidders consider the momentos of her life and career as little more than collectors' items for their own aggrandizement. Trying to come to terms with her demise, he seeks out and talks with a male professional Zarah Leander impersonator named Armand who sings her songs in a nightclub act. As the film ends with the Armand singing many of the songs we saw Leander sing earlier in the film, the admiration evident in Paul Seiler's face justifies and gives meaning to the film's title.
Technically, Blackwood does an acceptable job. He found and inserted many segments from Zarah Leander's films and concert footage. He also has tracked down and interviewed many people who knew Zarah Leander or were associated with her rise to stardom, including Douglas Sirk who directed two of Leander's biggest hits, TO NEW SHORES and LA HABANERA. He uses freeze frames and photographs with good effectiveness in parts. However, one annoying problem occurs in parts of the film. Blackwood shot interview footage of Zarah Leander, transferred it to videotape, and reshot it onto film as Paul Seiler watches the videotape on a television in his living room. Blackwood does this to show us Paul Seiler's reactions to the footage in order to heighten our understanding of his devotion. However, the psychological effect is obscured by the loss of resolution and color. Blackwood himself invites comparison in one or two instances when he zooms his camera into the television and then segues into the actual footage itself (thereby eliminating the videotape step). The small pallid image of Zarah Leander on the television set seems a much less likely object of obsession than her richer, fuller image on direct film. Blackwood should not have used videotape as an intermediate step.
In terms of its narrative, the documentary does a good job in portraying the life and times of a star from the past. However, the more interesting aspect of the film examines the effect she had on her fans, both past and present. The structure of the film is such that we are initially introduced to the fact that Zarah Leander had and still has a loyal following. This arouses a curiosity as who this Zarah Leander person is and why she has such a following. Only after 30 minutes or so are we shown archival footage of her films and concerts to give us an understanding of exactly who is being discussed so reverently by her fans. While portraying her decline and death, the film constantly shifts its focus back to Paul Seiler. He opens up to the camera considerably and in several very moving scenes explains his personal fondness for Zarah Leander. His homosexuality, her husky masculine features, and the loss of his mother at an early age are all discussed with such candor and simplicity that the documentary is transformed into a very personal tribute and love letter to Zarah Leander. In one particularly touching moment, Paul Seiler tells how he was unable to give Zarah Leander a birthday gift of photographs and momentos of her career because she became more distant from him as she grew older and faded from stardom. She stopped returning his calls, and he was not allowed to see her as often as before. The sadness in Paul Seiler's face as he recounts this turn of events humanizes the depth of his attachment to her and the pain of separation after her decline. While we may not share his reverence for Zarah Leander, we certainly come to understand just how deeply he loved her and why she exerted such an influence over him.
The film rates two and a half (out of four) stars for going beyond a mere historical representation of Zarah Leander's life. However, the real star is Christian Blackwood himself. His ability as a film maker is apparent in this film, and his work deserves wider recognition. The insights presented with discerning perception by Christian Blackwood into why someone would devote his life to a masculine chanteuse actress who was closely identified with the Nazi Party is the real heart of the film.
Partial Filmography of Christian Blackwood:
SPOLETO: FESTIVAL OF TWO WORLDS 1967 90 mins
HARLEM THEATER 1968 90 mins
SUMMER IN THE CITY 1968 90 mins
SAN DOMINGO -- co-directed with
Hans Jurgen Syberberg 1970 140 mins
"Eliot Feld: Artistic Director" 1970 58 mins
"Juilliard" 1971 52 mins
"Kentucky Kith & Kin" 1972 52 mins
BLACK HARVEST 1973 90 mins
"Hollywood's Musical Moods" 1973 50 mins
"Yesterday's Witness: A Tribute
to the American Newsreel" 1974 52 mins
"Living with Fear" 1974 58 mins
"Rock: USA" 1976 43 mins
"To Be a Man" 1977 58 mins
"Roger Corman: Hollywood's
Wild Angel" 1978 58 mins
"Cousins" 1979 58 mins
"Memoirs of a Movie Palace" 1980 45 mins
"Tapdancin'" 1980 58 mins
ALL BY MYSELF 1982 83 mins
CHARLES AZNAVOUR: BREAKING AMERICA 1983 83 mins
OBSERVATIONS UNDER THE VOLCANO 1984 83 mins
MY LIFE FOR ZARAH LEANDER 1985 83 mins
PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS: ON THE SET OF
"DEATH OF A SALESMAN" 1985 82 mins
NIK AND MURRAY 1986 82 mins
Christian Blackwood's films have been shown at numerous film festivals and on international television, winning many awards along the way. His feature film SAN DOMINGO, adapted from a novel by Kleist, won the Bundesfilmpreis for 1970 (the German Oscar award equivalent). He has also made several commercials for television and cinema as well as short films that are not listed above.
Manavendra K. Thakur
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thakur@eddie.mit.edu
thakur@athena.mit.edu
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