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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"She was a prototype.", July 9, 2005
The documentary "Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song" is directed by grandson David Riva. About halfway into the film I realised I was watching some sort of "authorized/family" version of Dietrich's life. The film chooses to focus on certain parts of Dietrich's life while completely ignoring other substantial portions. The film concentrates on Dietrich's WWII activities, but it includes surprisingly little about her film career--many of her films are not even discussed. There's also very little here about Marlene's personal life--although her marriage to Rudolf Sieber is mentioned. Marlene's love affairs with three members of the Kennedy clan are also not mentioned--one brief clip flashes a very recognizable and young John Kennedy at the camera. The film does, however, chose to pursue the story of Dietrich's love affair with the French actor, Jean Gabin, but there's no mention of her affairs with other women.
The documentary includes information about Dietrich's early acting career, concert footage, and her screen test for "Blue Angel". Various people in the film industry relate their anecdotal memories of Dietrich--including Hildegard Neff, Burt Bacharach, Rosemary Clooney, daughter Maria Riva (the director's mother), and various biographers. There are some fascinating photographs of Marlene Dietrich's WWII involvement--the shows she gave to the troops, etc. The film discusses Dietrich's brave opposition to the Nazi party, Goebbel's attempts to get her back in the German film industry, and how she coped with being a German in wartime. Dietrich's films were eventually banned in her native Germany.
While it's extremely interesting to learn about Marlene's devotion to the troops, and how she suffered for being German, overall, the documentary is a disappointment. It's well made, well organized, coherent, etc., but it hardly gives a full picture of Dietrich's life. The film travels down one road and ignores the rest. I was especially disappointed that the film contained no analysis of Dietrich's relationship with von Sternberg. This one-sided presentation of Dietrich's life removes any possibility of analysis from the viewer and instead, we are spoon fed what is supposed to be the accepted biography. It's not so much that we don't get the dirt--we just don't get the full picture of this fascinating unforgettable, and complicated star. All that said, while this is not a definitive biography by any means, Dietrich fans will still want to seek out the film and absorb the information here. For me, the very best scene was Dietrich singing "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" in German while on tour in Israel. This was extremely moving--displacedhuman
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating documentary on the life of a great actress, January 5, 2003
This is a fascinating documentary about the great screen legend Marlene Dietrich, not the less because of the particular focus on her life it takes. Without much question, Dietrich was one of the more interesting and complex individuals to have a career in Hollywood. Her films are fascinating for the imagery and complex sexuality presented upon the screen, and her life was interesting for many of the same reasons. This documentary leaves large parts of Dietrich's life undiscussed in order to deal more completely with aspects normally neglected. For instance, there is surprisingly little devoted to her actual film career. Many of her greatest film roles are not mentioned at all, such as BLONDE VENUS, THE SCARLET EMPRESS, DESIRE, THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN, the camp classic RANCHO NOTORIOUS, or WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. Furthermore, very little of her sex life is mentioned, nothing about her long list of male and female lovers (in fact, there is no reference to her bisexuality at all, or her relationship with many of the Kennedy men, except for a very quick and unremarked upon bit of home movie footage of a very young JFK). So, in a way, this is not a balanced documentary on Dietrich's life.On the other hand, we do get a portrait of Dietrich that, in conjunction with the more commonly known side of her, that richly deepens the more common portrait of her. There are many extraordinary early photographs and film footage of the very young Marlene in Germany, a great deal of fascinating home movie footage, and many interviews with family members. In fact, the sections of the documentary dealing with her family relations is among the most interesting. But far and away the most interesting part of the documentary is that dealing with her ardent and passionate work in entertaining American troops on the front lines during WW II. I was aware that she had been unusually active in the USO during WW II, but I did not know the degree to which she was involved. As this film shows, she was probably worked harder to improve the morale of American soldiers than any other actor or actress during the war, often undergoing many of the same physical hardships that they did. As a result, Marlene Dietrich emerges as not merely a sexual and film icon, but as a genuine heroine, someone worthy of the greatest admiration.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Soldier's Daughter Never Cries: Unbalanced, But Interesting, April 11, 2004
About this cultural icon Marlene Dietrich, we have already a great documentary film "Marlene" by Maximillian Schell. Now here is a question: do we need another? Apparently, the answer is yes, as far as "Marlene Dietrich -- Her Own Song" is concerned, for it is directed by her own grandson J. David Riva.But don't expect the film to be about her as actress. As the title of the film suggest, "Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song" uses its considerable time to describe her war-time activity. As you know, she travelled all around the world during the WW2, and sang her songs before the cheering soldiers, and the film shows how she did the work, even risking her own life. No wonder we associate her image with the song "Lili Marleen," (which is, incidentally, not her song at first -- it was first sung by Lala Anderson). The film covers the aspect of Dietrich as actress, but the part is not what we can call in-depth study. In this film, her acting career means "The Blue Angel" "Morocco" and many others which are touched rather superficially. When Billy Wilder is mentioned, the film quoted is NOT "Witness for the Prosecution" but "A Foreign Affair." Strangely, the first one is never talked about, the decision no serious film critic would take. The most memorable part of the new documentary is its materials which only the people close to Marlene Dietrich can obtain. The home video part (8 mm films) is fascinating, capturing the Marlene Dietrich enjoying herself in holiday (some shots in swimming suit), and incredibly, they are mostly in color (remember, it's around the 1930-40s). And the brief reunion conversation between Marlene (who left Germany) and her mother (who stayed in Berlin during the war) recorded by US military is very touching. The interviewees include: Burt Bacharach, Rosemary Clooney, Maria Riva (the director's mother, and Marlene Dietrich's daughter), Volker Schlondorff, and many others. Narration by Jamie Lee Curtis, and Marlene's voice provided by Nina Franoszek. Not an incisive study of Marlene Dietrich, I admit, and some part looks whitewashed. (The existence of Marlene's elder sister is virtually ignored.) However, the materials used here are rare and quite interesting to see, and for that only it deserves to be seen. But of course, you should watch sexy and seductive Dietrich in "Morocco" first, and how she sings there, throwing a flower to Gary Cooper. It's a must.
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