Regie:
Josef von SternbergDrehbuch:
Jules FurthmanMusik:
W. Franke HarlingBesetzung:
Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Willie Fung (mehr)Inhalte(1)
China in den Zwanziger Jahren: Inmitten des Bürgerkriegs trifft die berühmt-berüchtigte Prostituierte “China Lily” in der ersten Klasse des Shanghai Express den Militärarzt Captain Donald Harvey wieder, der sie vor Jahren aus Eifersucht verließ. Während der gemeinsamen Reise schmilzt Lilys kühle Fassade und die beiden kommen sich wieder näher. Doch als der Zug von Rebellen gestoppt und “Doc Harvey” gefangen genommen wird, muss China Lily eine folgenschwere Entscheidung treffen: Rettet sie ihre große Liebe oder das eigene Leben? (Verleiher-Text)
(mehr)Kritiken (3)
Ein Film, der das großartige Art-Déco-Kostüm von Travis Banton mit den Federn eines mexikanischen Hahns und Spitze mit diagonalen Streifen definierte. So etwas habe ich noch nie gesehen und werde es wahrscheinlich auch nie wieder. Worte sind zu wenig. "Es brauchte mehr als einen Mann, um meinen Namen in Shanghai Lily zu ändern."
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Shanghai Express is similarly narrative as a museum tour. The main and basically only exhibit is Marlene, who apparently travels with her entire wardrobe, as she only needs to change six different outfits (plus nightgowns) on her way to Shanghai. On the one hand, the performative dimension of the constant changing of clothes sets Lily apart from the world of the other characters, who remain in the same clothes throughout the film; on the other hand, it complements the important motif of playing roles, mistaken identities and passing off the fake as something real. Most of the passengers are hiding something or pretending to be someone else. Shanghai Express is not without content, but its core comprises that which would merely be a supporting device in a conventional film, namely the exposing of a fetishised body and role-playing. Marlene is playing only for the sake of playing (as she does). What’s important is not who she plays, but that she plays. Sternberg maximally prioritises this over both the structure of the story and the formalistic rendering of individual shots. The film can also be seen as a series of examples of how to effectively place Dietrich in a given space. The intentional overcrowding of the mise-en-scene with numerous overlapping planes (a visual element that is also accentuated by the atypically slow dissolves) comes across as unrealistic, as if it was “made” specifically for the film, like the wonderfully surreal Marlene. There are hundreds of narratively more cohesive and thus less sluggish films, but I am not aware of many better instructional films on the subject of “making a star”. 75%
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Galerie (47)
Photo © Paramount Pictures
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