The Cinema Of Ernst Lubitsch
In The Marriage Circle, One Hour With You, and Trouble in Paradise
Lubitsch towered above anybody, creatively . . . he was the greatest craftsman whoever lived . . . in the sense of knowing the most brilliant and original way to use the medium . . . His talent and originality were stupefying . . . Lubitsch was cerebrally was beyond the ordinary director . . . A man of pure cinema . . . Lubitsch was a prince. (www.his.com/~scottb/lubitsch/potpouri.html).
Introduction
Born on January 28, 1892 in Berlin, Ernst Lubitsch was from the German middle class. He was an extraordinary director. For him, film style and theme fit together perfectly. He was never seen as an American director; he ...
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(1932), elements of Lubitsch’s style, such as deception and corruption, role playing and performance, relationships, and the concept of desire as motivation for everything are common staples. To understand the thematic aspects of Lubitsch style, we must look at each of these in turn.
Deception and Corruption
There are surface deceptions and self-deceptions in all corners of The Marriage Circle. Misrepresentations are both deliberate and accidental. Even the song the notion of love is corrupt. This all but reinforces Lubutsch’s position that corruption is everywhere. No one is truly evil, but they are all self-promoting. In the beginning of the film, only the Stocks are corrupt; the Brauns are innocent. But by the end of the film, both couples are corrupt. There is mutual deception in both the Brauns and the Stocks; they have come full circle. There is no moral center of the film at the end; everyone has compromised something to get what they want.
One Hour With You begins where ...
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deceptions are found throughout the film. The scene where Gaston and Lily meet, and again at the end of the film both involve criminals pickpocketing. That whole concept is corrupt. Thievery is deception, plain and simple. The mere settings of the film imply corruption as well: Venice, the ancient world which is corrupt, and Paris, the modern world which is just as corrupt.
Relationships, Ideas of Marriage and The Concept of Love
As one of the great unromantic of the cinema, Lubitsch liked to use a satirical approach when dealing with the purity of women and the sanctities of marriage. It is said that “with characteristic iconic wit, he depicts sex as a frivolous past-time, as a ...
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"The Cinema Of Ernst Lubitsch." Essayworld.com. October 25, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Cinema-Of-Ernst-Lubitsch/73263.
"The Cinema Of Ernst Lubitsch." Essayworld.com. October 25, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Cinema-Of-Ernst-Lubitsch/73263.
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