History Creator / DouglasSirk

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e016982b_703f_4cf1_9814_414ec0df0a68.jpeg]]

Put it simply, Sirk's films were first class GenreDeconstruction of the typical American family of TheFifties, rather than being obvious examples of all that was conventional and conformist, his films were UnbuiltTrope that pointed out all that wrong with middle-class society and why the generation gap that defined the post-war generation happened. This was not willful reading as Sirk had an incredible cultural and intellectual background.

He was born Detlef Sierk in Germany and became an associate of the German artistic community in the 20s and 30s. He knew the likes of Max Brod, Creator/BertoltBrecht, Kurt Weill and several others. He was a major intellectual who knew his Euripides and Creator/WilliamShakespeare well. To put it simply he was already a master of PlayingWithATrope way before it became cool. The rise of Nazism caused personal trauma for him. His first wife was a Nazi and his second wife was Jewish; his first wife consequently won custody of their son and Sirk was barred from seeing him. He stayed in Germany even during the early years of the Third Reich in the vain hopes of rescuing his son but ultimately, he and his wife had to be smuggled out of Germany to France and then to America. His son, sadly, died in the Russian front.

-->-- '''Douglas Sirk'''

[[quoteright:215:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doug_sirk.jpg]]

* ''Film/{{Imitation Of Life|1959}}'' (1959)

* ''Imitation of Life'' (1959)

* ''Take Me To Town'' (1953)

* ''Magnificent Obsession'' (1954)

Douglas Sirk (April 26, 1897 – January 14, 1987) directed several melodramas that defined, for some, TheFifties at its [[TastesLikeDiabetes kitschy]] worst: they were set in stereotypical StepfordSuburbia, had plots with the worst melodramatic cliches, and usually featured the most boring and obvious {{Happy Ending}}s. They were also huge box-office hits at the time, but even when FilmNoir and TheWestern became VindicatedByHistory, people thumbed their noses at Sirk for not being TrueArt. That changed -- gradually, of course -- thanks to the help of edgy directors like Creator/JeanLucGodard and Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder, who picked up on the subtext of his films and realized that there was MoreThanMeetsTheEye, that the real story was in the MeaningfulBackgroundEvent and the visual style of the film rather than the plot that was mandated by censorship.

* ''Hitler's Madman'' (1943)

'''Douglas Sirk''' (April 26, 1897 – January 14, 1987) directed several melodramas that defined, for some, TheFifties at its [[TastesLikeDiabetes kitschy]] worst: they were set in stereotypical StepfordSuburbia, had plots with the worst melodramatic cliches, and usually featured the most boring and obvious {{Happy Ending}}s. They were also huge box-office hits at the time, but even when FilmNoir and TheWestern became VindicatedByHistory, people thumbed their noses at Sirk for not being TrueArt. That changed -- gradually, of course -- thanks to the help of edgy directors like Creator/JeanLucGodard and Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder, who picked up on the subtext of his films and realized that there was MoreThanMeetsTheEye, that the real story was in the MeaningfulBackgroundEvent and the visual style of the film rather than the plot that was mandated by censorship.

He was born in Germany and became an associate of the German artistic community in the 20s and 30s. He knew the likes of Max Brod, Creator/BertoltBrecht, Kurt Weill and several others. He was a major intellectual who knew his Euripides and Creator/WilliamShakespeare well. To put it simply he was already a master of PlayingWithATrope way before it became cool. The rise of Nazism caused personal trauma for him. His first wife was a Nazi and his second wife was Jewish; his first wife consequently won custody of their son and Sirk was barred from seeing him. He stayed in Germany even during the early years of the Third Reich in the vain hopes of rescuing his son but ultimately, he and his wife had to be smuggled out of Germany to France and then to America. His son, sadly, died in the Russian front.

He was born in Germany and became an associate of the German artistic community in the 20s and 30s. He knew the likes of Max Brod, Creator/BertoltBrecht, Kurt Weill and several others. He was a major intellectual who knew his Euripides and Creator/WilliamShakespeare well. To put it simply he was already a master of PlayingWithATrope way before it became cool. The rise of Nazism caused personal trauma for him. His first wife was a Nazi and his second wife was Jewish, his son from his first wife was given custody to his Mommy and Sirk was barred from seeing him. He stayed in Germany even during the early years of the Third Reich in the vain hopes of rescuing his son but ultimately, he and his wife had to be smuggled out of Germany to France and then to America. His son, sadly, died in the Russian front.

* ''All That Heaven Allows'' (1955)

In Hollywood he made his mark directing UsefulNotes/WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Rock Hudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after 1959's ''Imitation of Life'' (which would be Creator/{{Universal}}'s biggest box-office hit until ''Film/{{Airport}}'' a decade later), and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder, who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence filmmakers like Creator/DavidLynch, Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in ''Film/PulpFiction''), and Creator/ToddHaynes.

Put it simply, Sirk's films were first class GenreDeconstruction of the typical American family of TheFifties, rather than being obvious examples of all that was conventional and conformist, his films were UnbuiltTrope that pointed out all that wrong with middle-class society and why the generation gap that defined the post-war generation happened. This was not wilful reading as Sirk had an incredible cultural and intellectual background.

---

In Hollywood he made his mark directing UsefulNotes/WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Rock Hudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after 1959's ''Imitation of Life'' (which would be Creator/{{Universal}}'s biggest box-office hit until ''Film/{{Airport}}'' a decade later), and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder, who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence filmmakers like Creator/DavidLynch, Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in ''Film/PulpFiction''), and Creator/ToddHaynes (whose ''Far from Heaven'' is pretty much a straight homage to Kirk's ''All That Heaven Allows'').

In Hollywood he made his mark directing UsefulNotes/WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Rock Hudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after 1959's ''Imitation of Life'' (which would be Creator/{{Universal}}'s biggest box-office hit until ''Film/{{Airport}}'' a decade later), and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence filmmakers like Creator/DavidLynch, Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in ''Film/PulpFiction''), and Creator/ToddHaynes (whose ''Far from Heaven'' is pretty much a straight homage to Kirk's ''All That Heaven Allows'').

-> ''"In tragedy the life always ends. By being dead, the hero is at the same time rescued from life’s troubles. In melodrama, he lives on — in an unhappy happy end.}"''

-> ''In tragedy the life always ends. By being dead, the hero is at the same time rescued from life’s troubles. In melodrama, he lives on — in an unhappy happy end.''

In Hollywood he made his mark directing UsefulNotes/WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Rock Hudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after ''Imitation of Life'' which was Universal's biggest box-office hit until ''Airport'' and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence filmmakers like Creator/DavidLynch, Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in ''Film/PulpFiction''), and Creator/ToddHaynes (whose ''Far from Heaven'' is pretty much a straight homage to Kirk's ''All That Heaven Allows'').

Douglas Sirk (April 26, 1897 – January 14, 1987) directed several melodramas that defined, for some, TheFifties at its [[TastesLikeDiabetes kitschy]] worst, they were set in stereotypical StepfordSuburbia and had plots with the worst melodramatic cliches and they had the most boring and obvious HappyEnding. They were also box-office hits at the time and even when FilmNoir and TheWestern became VindicatedByHistory, people thumbed their noses at Sirk for not being TrueArt. That change gradually of course thanks to the help of edgy directors like Creator/JeanLucGodard and Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder who picked up on the subtext of his films and realized that there was MoreThanMeetsTheEye, that the real story was in the MeaningfulBackgroundEvent and the visual style of the film rather than the plot that was mandated by censorship.

In Hollywood he made his mark directing UsefulNotes/WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Rock Hudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after ''Imitation of Life'' which was Universal's biggest box-office hit until ''Airport'' and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence directors like Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in Film/PulpFiction) and Todd Haynes.

In Hollywood he made his mark directing WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Rock Hudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after ''Imitation of Life'' which was Universal's biggest box-office hit until ''Airport'' and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence directors like Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in Film/PulpFiction) and Todd Haynes.

He was born in Germany and became an associate of the German artistic community in the 20s and 30s. He knew the likes of Max Brod, Creator/BertoltBrecht, Kurt Weill and several others. He was a major intellectual who knew his Euripides and Creator/WilliamShakespeare well. To put it simply he was already a master of PlayingWithATrope way before it became cool. The rise of Nazism caused personal trauma for him. His first wife was a Nazi and his second wife was Jewish, his son from his first wife was given custody to his Mommy and Sirk was barred from seeing him. He stayed in Germany even during the years of the First Reich in the vain hopes of rescuing his son but ultimately, he and his wife had to be smuggled out of Germany to France and then to America. His son, sadly, died in the Russian front.

-->-- Douglas Sirk

He was born in Germany and became an associate of the German artistic community in the 20s and 30s. He knew the likes of Max Brod, Creator/BertoltBrecht, Kurt Weill and several others. He was a major intellectual who knew his Creator/Euripides and Creator/WilliamShakespeare well. To put it simply he was already a master of PlayingWithATrope way before it became cool. The rise of Nazism caused personal trauma for him. His first wife was a Nazi and his second wife was Jewish, his son from his first wife was given custody to his Mommy and Sirk was barred from seeing him. He stayed in Germany even during the years of the First Reich in the vain hopes of rescuing his son but ultimately, he and his wife had to be smuggled out of Germany to France and then to America. His son, sadly, died in the Russian front.

Douglas Sirk (April 26, 1897 – January 14, 1987) directed several melodramas that defined, for some, TheFifties at its [[TastesLikeDiabetes kitschy]] worst, they were set in stereotypical StepfordSuburbia and had plots with the worst melodramatic cliches and they had the most boring and obvious HappyEnding. They were also box-office hits at the time and even when FilmNoir and TheWestern became VindicatedByHistory, people thumbed their noses at Sirk for not being TrueArt. That change gradually of course thanks to the help of edgy directors like Creator/JeanLucGodard and Creator/RainerWernerFasssbinder who picked up on the subtext of his films and realized that there was MoreThanMeetsTheEye, that the real story was in the MeaningfulBackgroundEvent and the visual style of the film rather than the plot that was mandated by censorship.

In Hollywood he made his mark directing WW2 propaganda before making a series of melodramas in the 50s that starred Creator/RockHudson. They remain the star's best performances and Sirk felt that the latter was very underrated. He quit film-making after ''Imitation of Life'' which was Universal's biggest box-office hit until ''Airport'' and in his retirement became TheMentor for several young film-makers including Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder who made several films in homage to him. He would later influence directors like Creator/QuentinTarantino (Travolta orders the "Douglas Sirk steak" in Film/PulpFiction) and Todd Haynes.