Melodrama- Sirk and Fassbinder

Melodrama Response: Color and Space in Sirk and Fassbinder

I love melodrama. Watching this set of films in particular was a rewarding experience because they are so richly entangled. In his discussion of epic theater, Benjamin discusses the “quotable gesture” which is an interruption within a text. Melodrama is full of these interruptive, quotable gestures; it draws on endless circles of representations, moments of nostalgic homage that interrupt and reframe previous incarnations. I also noticed that these three directors were involved in an indirect conversation, talking about each other’s films and deliberately (mis)quoting the other’s style (Sirk could be problematically placed as the “origin” of this discourse). I want to think about the aesthetic quotations of color and space between Ali Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder, 1974) and All That Heaven Allows (Sirk, 1955).

Both films are saturated with color. The predominant colors in Ali are associated with the 70s- bright red, yellow and blue, lime/chartreuse green. When Emmi first walks into the bar, the red brick paint, the red boots, the red tablecloths- it was quite stunning. And when she dances with Ali, a red light comes on over their bodies. The 70s color schemes also come through in the character’s clothes as quite garish attempts at life, as if by wearing such bright and bold patterns the characters can prove they are alive, when in reality they are consumed by fear. I am thinking of Emmi’s green and brown patterned dress and her three inch yellow pumps- a bit “old” for her? The colors seem out of place, especially when she takes off her boring black coat (revealing her often hidden desires). I was always waiting to see what the waitress was wearing, because her clothes were simultaneously attractive and not flattering. The red boots were great, but the orange zip down dress? The bubblegum pink and black glitter outfit? The camera gave a lot of time to the waitress, following her from the bar over to Emmi’s table and back, often turning for a silhouette which outlined the waitress’ generous bust. The waitress was supposed to be Emmi’s competition- after all, she was young, blonde, pretty and could provide couscous and beer. Yet there was something so desperately unhappy about her that the outrageous clothes seemed to hint at.

Carrie also “reveals” herself through clothing. The night of the country club party she wears a red dress which prompts comments from nearly everyone. The red dress signals her availability as a woman and the official end of her “widow” status- she is now a single woman instead of a mourning wife. Rock Hudson is almost always dressed as a rugged outdoorsman with the plaid shirt and the work boots. His wardrobe is coded through the autumn motif of the rest of the movie- the sets of ambers, reds, yellows and browns. Ali is also dressed as a worker; both he and Rock shared the “working man” muscled kind of look that implies their sexuality is not straight jacketed by a suit and tie. In a disturbing scene from Ali, Emmi’s coworkers even fondle Ali’s muscles.

The spaces of the two films are also very evocative. Ali is full of twisting staircases, doorways, windows, and bars which always divide spaces into hierarchies of knowledge. When Emmi and her coworkers sit on the stairs, she is trapped between all of them, surrounded as they unsympathetically dismiss her compassion toward foreigners. Later, when the “foreigner” Yolanda arrives, she is excluded from the group and divided from them by the staircase banisters which become jail like. The neighbor in the apartment is always visually restricted- seen through the mesh of her screen, behind the stairs, from a window above. Sirk also creates this restricting space, but his is almost more nostalgic and dangerously friendly. It is Small Town America that entraps Carrie, from the huge suburban house to the country club to the town itself and the clock tower. These spaces are inundated with power dynamics, as in Ali. The country club is off-limits and guarded by pompous gossips; Rock’s friend’s house is perched up like a treehouse and open to all the eccentrics. Rock’s home is excessively picturesque- he’s got a greenhouse, a cabin, a river, a bridge, even an old mill! The loss of autumn and the deadness of winter surrounds the whole story. The snow seals the two lovers away but also troubles the ultimate productivity of their relationship. A gardener should know how difficult it is for “love to grow” in the autumn of life.