Lili Marleen (1981)

Second viewing; first viewed on November 13, 1988.

A fictional story inspired in some events of the life of German singer Lale Andersen.

Willie is a German cabaret singer living in Switzerland, where she meets and has a relationship with a Jewish member of the anti-Nazi resistance. She is, through a backstabbing maneuver of her lover's father, deported from Switzerland. The lovers then take separate paths: she becomes a National idol in Nazi Germany while her lover continues his resistance work in Switzerland. Their encounters become increasingly risky and rare.

This is not as bad as it seemed on my first viewing. The cinematography is good, and the film is well produced and flashy in an attractive way. The script is indeed weak, and frankly the whole thing took a slightly self-parodic air as it advanced towards the punchline-like ending. As some reviewers noticed, the plot mirrors the lyrics of the title song, which is played incessantly during the film. This is essentially a melodrama about lovers torn apart, and only marginally about the social responsibility of the artist, a theme which is better explored in Mephisto, released a few months later.

Rating: 31 (up from 25)