Marlene Dietrich is generally remembered for her fierce independence and abandonment of societal norms, marked by glamorous crossdressing, affairs with both sexes, and sardonic wit, making the opening of this 1933 Paramount film a bit of a headscratcher. She plays a meek, innocent young peasant girl who is lured into posing as a nude model for an aspiring sculptor, the polar opposite of her legendary persona even at this fairly early stage of her career. It’s interesting to watch her play so far against type, even as the story initially feels like a mismatch for her talents.
As the story progresses, the sculptor and muse inevitably enter into a relationship, with Dietrich’s character falling hard for the artist and dreaming of conventional married bliss, while he remains aloof and begins searching for an offramp. Luckily for him, a lecherous old military baron wants to own the statue as well as its inspiration, setting up a love triangle as the young artist ditches his model and she begrudgingly accepts the baron’s marriage proposal, learning how to become a wealthy society lady.
This is where Dietrich’s personality meshes with her character, with the now worldly and imperious dame finding her own power and self-worth to delicious effect, causing the artist to regret leaving her and setting up a showdown between the two men. The story is fairly lightweight, but Dietrich’s transformation is epic, and her character’s eventual dominance over the patriarchy is a joy to behold, especially given the era of the film production. She’s the only reason to watch the film, and she makes the most of it.
The new Universal Blu-ray is a bare-bones effort with zero supplemental features. The black-and-white film is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound. While the film isn’t of a high-enough profile to get an exhaustive restoration, the contrast and clarity are excellent and video and audio flaws are minimal.
Buy The Song of Songs from AmazonThe artist and nude muse story has been explored to more interesting results in later films including La Belle Noiseuse, The Artist and the Model, and Renoir, but here that core relationship primarily serves as a springboard into a different plot direction focusing on female empowerment, class warfare, and a preposterous love triangle. It rings more melodramatic than truthful, but Dietrich is magnetic and transformative.
