Pluskylang Great Film overall

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

talisencrw Very few aesthetic delights of the post-Code era tantalize and linger long afterwards in the mind as much as films from the Marlene Dietrich/Josef Von Sternberg partnership, and this, thankfully kept in Dietrich's vault as it was the favourite of her films, is no exception. Though anyone who knows me will readily recall I prefer the twice-Oscar nominated (for 'Morocco' and 'Shanghai Express'), Viennese expert craftsman's silent pictures to those made with the sexpot, this saga of vengeance is also superlative and well worth both purchasing and re-watching. Paramount caved in to pressure by the Spanish government, who hated the way Pierre Louÿs' novel portrayed the Spanish police, and actually destroyed the original print. Thankfully Dietrich's fear that her favourite film would otherwise be lost meant it was extremely well-preserved, and I saw my copy as part of a superlative DVD boxed set of six of her films that I've had for a few years now.

peacecrusader888 This is not a review of the movie itself but a revelation of the fact behind the title of the movie. The Devil or the Great Dragon or the old serpent or Satan (Revelation 12:7-9), according to the Holy Spirit who we (plural) talk to, is a woman, a female. She is the twin sister of Michael, and the only woman of eight archangels. In Heaven, she was called Lucibel or "Light of Heaven" but when she was cast out of Heaven, she became Lucifer on earth.In the spiritual world, there are no more sex organs, no more "twin peaks" but the beings are either male or female.The movie is an eye-opener for the truth of what the Devil offers. She is a cold-hearted harlot who is alluring and seductive in offering worldly possessions – beauty, fame, power, material wealth – in which people of this world fall into. Even if we have been warned of these, like what the elder Don Pasqualito told the young Antonio, still people fall into her traps and leave people betrayed and helpless. Later, they realize that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4, King James Version). These worldly possessions are fleeting things only. What we should acquire are those that we can take with us in the afterlife.Concha says, "Mother says no flies enter a closed mouth." The Holy Spirit told us, "Mouth that is not opened is far from sinning."

Steffi_P This was the last of the eight Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations and, like their off-screen relationship, their on screen partnership was by now turning a little sour. It shows.One thing that sets the Devil is a Woman apart from the pictures that preceded it is that von Sternberg seems less keen to show off Marlene's beauty. Whereas in the Blue Angel, Morocco or indeed any of the others he would use scintillating light patterns to give her face an other-worldly glow – something he would never treat the other actors to – she is now like the rest of the cast shot as if she were part of the set. Also, Dietrich's interpretation of her character is rather dull; all pouting and melodramatics, a far cry from the assured performances she gave in Morocco and Scarlet Empress. This is particularly significant for this of all pictures. For the story to work, Marlene needs to appear seductive to the audience, so we can see what the attraction is for her lovers. As it is her portrayal is unsympathetic and uninteresting, making it considerably less credible for men to be shooting each other for her attention.Aside from that there is little else going on here. The story is a loose knock-off of Carmen. Sternberg's visual constructions are pretty as always, and with the carnival setting he really gets to have fun with trailing streamers and garish masks, although the metaphor of Concha as a spider, with the streamers her web is perhaps stretched a little thin. As with the Scarlet Empress there is an attempt to choreograph the action to famous pieces of classical music, in this case Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, but it is not particularly well-developed.There are however a few treats on the acting front. Lionel Atwill is particularly good. Atwill was one of those rare character actors who would normally deliver an over-the-top supporting performance, and yet was fully capable of reining things in a bit when cast in a more serious dramatic role. And yet he still retains that "character actor" sparkle, that actually makes good comedy of lines like "A most outstanding pleasure…" In fact one of the strong points of the Devil is a Woman is that, through its cast, it manages to make comic relief out of serious moments. For example the casting of Edward Everett Horton (probably best known as Fred Astaire's sidekick) as an authority figure might seem ill-advised, but when he too confesses an obsession with Concha the scene plays for laughs. Don Alvarado is also great in an almost mute – and consequently funny – role. It's just as well these supporting players are good, as the second lead man Cesar Romero unfortunately delivers a leaden lump of a performance.It seems that with their personal and professional relationships on the way out, both Dietrich and von Sternberg were simply going through the motions on this one (although strangely Dietrich named this as her favourite of her films). Of course some might say that even a half-arsed effort from a great director and a screen icon should be pretty good, but coming after the magnificent Scarlet Empress (the one Dietrich-Sternberg film that really works) this is something of a disappointment.

richard-1787 This is at best a confusing movie. The novel on which it is based, a minor classic of masochism, is the story of a Spanish nobleman who falls in love with a strange woman, Concha. She keeps leaving him, and so angers him that he finally beats her. She likes it, and the rest of the novel consists of his learning this and trying to come to terms with it.That, of course, was not going to work in post-Hayes Code Hollywood. There is a slight inkling of it after Lionel Atwil beats Concha once, but it is never developed. We therefore really have no idea why she doesn't go off with the far more handsome Cesar Romero at the end.So, what we have left are a lot of nicely shot black and white images - Sternberg knew how to shoot for the image - and the most remarkable series of outlandish costumes on Dietrich that Hollywood could provide. She plays Concha as petulant and that finally becomes obnoxious. So, as with some of the other Sternberg-Dietrich creations, this is best watched with the sound turned off. Fun to watch, but more show than substance.