Thursday, June 18, 2009

Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner


After watching three of Ernst Lubitsch's silent films from circa 1919, I jumped into his 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner. This story has seen many manifestations including You've Got Mail in 1998. After seeing Bill Murray rave about Margaret Sullavan's about Margaret Sullavan, I paid special attention to her. This woman had great energy on the screen. Her character here is strong, but can be cautiously domineering as well as full-on forceful.

But the greatest presence in The Shop Around the Corner is of course that of Lubitsch. My current personal definition of "The Lubitsch Touch" is that he had the ability to problem solve on what seems to be a frame by frame level almost and come up with a solution that seems to best serve the movie and the audience experience.

Consider the many fast talk and sometimes cross talk scenes of three or more people. The dialog flows effortlessly even with quick measures and often break neck pace. It seems a reflection of what it is like to work with a team of people.

But most importantly, with a Lubitsch film, you find yourself caring pretty quickly about the characters, both those in primary confilct of the story but also those with specific supplementary roles that are easy to "read."

The latest issue (May/Jun 2009) of Film Comment has a story by Kent Jones where he analyzes The Shop Around the Corner as a film that gives us a truer reflection of the world of work than most movies. In his conclusive remarks, he finds a way to get at the substance of what makes this a special film.

"There is sentiment in The Shop Around the Corner, but there is no sentimentality. It is good-natured but it is also unerringly wise. The film's unparalleled grace is inseparable from the pettiness of its characters, which shifts unnoticed into magnanimity over the course of time. And then, perhaps we can imagine it shifting back again at a later date. Because this is one of those rare films that allows us to see a future for its characters, whose dreams of three-room apartments and petit-bourgeois happiness will be realized and replaced by grander dreams many times over as they make their way through a life at work."

posted by well-executed buffet at 6:02 AM
Comments: Post a Comment