Shanghai Express

The Oscar for Best Cinematography is well earned. Plenty of absolutely stunning shots and very effective camera work. Deitrich, too, is stunning, though the script and some of the supporting performances leave a bit to be desired.

Certainly a stripe of orientalism is contained herein, but what purpose does it serve, and is that purpose outright derogatory? Another of Sternberg's fabulist fantasies: play of light, shadow, space, and texture, mannered and heightened mise-en-scene so ornate and expressionist that it seems elsewhere than the real world. After all, racist westerners are depicted as buffoons, Wong is more than typecast, and more Chinese have speaking roles in their native language than in other American films.

Atmospheric and very interesting film for its time, especially in its representation of females.

(Rewatched on 14/08/18) Stylish romance/drama bears an obvious craftsman touch. There is much to admire in Sternberg's technique, especially his use of shadow, which is now legendary, and his filming of faces. His camera immortalized Dietrich, highlighting her glamour, beauty and mystery in warm shades of luminous light. The quiet moments where the camera lingers on her angular features are unforgettable. The script is decidedly less accomplished, but Sternberg directs with real finesse.

Not my favorite Sternberg, but as always it's impossible for me not be won over by it's stylistic chutzpah, making up for what it otherwise may lack in convincing drama or humor. Whatever insufficiencies the human element of this film may suffer from are largely inconsequential compared to the exquisitely composed mis-en-scene. In this sense, Sternberg is virtually the diametric opposite of someone like Roberto Rossellini, which in and of itself almost ensures my admiration for this.

I love most of the Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich collaborations and this one is up there with Dietrich looking amazing and what a classic shot with her smoking in the dark near the end! For me it missed a tiny bit more drama and maybe a more charismatic leading man instead of Clive Brook to make it a legendary movie, but it's still a high level film and with a strong cast to back up the main story. A beautiful production overall.

I didn't develop a deep affection for it, but I found it highly enjoyable and very well done. A well-brewed mix of drama, comedy, romance and action, but the main draw is Marlene. She constantly appears to be in complete command of the situation... and yet her darting eyes belie a nervous insecurity. In a film full of magnificent shots, most of them are centered around her face. The real drawback of this film is that I really didn't care to see her hang all her love on a clod like Clive Brook.

Shanghai Express is a romance movie with a villain, but much more. In its dreary world of brutish politics and selfish lechery, the biggest obstacles in love's way are the lovers' own pride, distrust and cynicism. There is something proto-noirish about the atmosphere in this film, and then what really gives it a last push into greatness is its subtle humor, something Sternberg does very well. Dietrich's best work is undoubtedly that under the direction of Sternberg, and this is a good example.

A nice little movie held together by good direction and a wonderful performance from Dietrich. It's one of those movies that has a little bit of everything: romance, suspense, drama and comedy. None of it is outstanding but all the elements work well enough together to make for an enjoyable time.

A solid pre-code romance/adventure. Dietrich jumps off the screen as much as she has in any movie. Pretty shots and it moves along nicely. The supporting cast is a bit hit or miss. It didn't do a ton for me, but it's solid enough.

The chiarascuro lighting, the moral ambiguity, the sultry femme fatales, the smoky claustrophobic setting... if this only had a voice-over narration it would be the first ever bona fide film-noir. Moody and atmospheric, with great cinematography and performances from both Dietrich and Wong, but the pacing is stilted, and the rest of the supporting cast falls flat. While more respectful than most Hollywood films of the era, it still leaves an unappealing Orientalist after-taste.

This movie has not aged well to me. The characters are all trash and Anna May Wong's character is the only halfway decent one in the bunch. So far this has been the only Josef von Sternberg I have not liked. The cinematography is still stunning.

Marlene Dietrich makes me want to take up smoking.

Style over substance, perhaps, but what style! Frilly, feminine and extravagant. As and added bonus the film features not one, but two of the most acclaimed screen beauties of their time, Dietrich and Anna May Wong.

A movie that is a little better than the sum of its parts. It looks like it's going to be an ensemble show, but the cast is just around to help out the basic romance plot. Some parts have weathered the years better than others. Ultimately, it's more of a "mood" movie with some brilliant cinematography that hints at noir.

The cinematography is quite striking at times & presumably the visual motifs like the pulled shade are raved about in film class. Fortunately the story's pretty compelling too, partly bc Dietrich is so stunning & partly b/c parts of the film are so anachronistic for its time, w/ prostitute protagonists & several white people we don't like & a Chinese man we initially do. In the end though, it's of its time w/ China & the Chinese really only being an exotic backdrop for the romance of the 2 leads

87.00

Grand Hotel on a train with Casablanca similarities. Marlene Dietrich's lingering looks, playful/smug expressions, and outfits are great. Warner Oland fills every bad Chinese stereotype. Clive Brook was a flat dud. I love the setting on a train and the cinematography. Movie chugs along seemingly too long after the big reveal. Homay King interview on Criterion bonus features was great. Fav scene: Anna May Wong turning down an advance and then taking her revenge.

Some of my favourite cinematography of the decade, and the feminist power stemming from May Wong & Dietrich's partnership is lovely.

"Don't you find respectable people to be terribly dull?"

Good and good-looking movie. It always (although this might be the first one) creates an interesting dynamic to put a bunch of characters together for days on a train. Some minor complaints include how dopey the doctor is, the ease with which everyone is running in and out of the head baddie's inner sanctum, and Marlene Dietrich's weird, distracting eyebrows.

Loved the overall look, lighting and sound. Ahead of its time in all areas including plot.

Dietrich's face may very well have been a miracle.

Star Rating: ★★★★

Makes you dream about movies more vivid acting, or movies in which the acting is truly dead, just not the louisness of mediocracy.

Long Marlene Dietrich photoshoot. tribute to her beauty but boring.

This is a an and his girl shooting scenes during their own romance, and trusting that the scenes may somehow extend the natural history of the sexual act. They surely do. It is ridiculous and lovely, just like an orgy for people who know nothing lasts. Yet the film is seventy-six years old as I write and still a monument of erotic art. Morever, it is one of the few great surrealist experiments ever paid for by a studio and people raised to the tough rules of the rag trade.

#846

Bir turlu sevemedim eski Hollywood estetigini ama Marlene ne kadar guzel bir kadin. Bir de Charlie Chan filmlerimden bildigimiz Warner Oland'in bu filmde Mr. Chang olarak goruluyor olmasi filmler arasi star/tanidik yuz kayislarinin o gunler nasil isledigini biraz olsun acik etti.

793

767

An early, american [non-musical] sound flick that's worth it. Nice. It's stuffed to the brim with talent from overseas, but it counts.....kind of.

# 809

We've all been told and told and told the magnificence of the Dietrich-von Sternberg collaboration; some of this movie works, but some of it doesn't. I'm more of a De Niro-Scorsese guy, myself