The Last Command (Josef von Sternberg, 1928)

Note: As I watched the man in the center of the frame sitting down (right under Emil Jannings), perfect his mustache in order to portray a solider as an extra I started wondering. How it worked. How would this extra direct his performance? Does he have to do anything at all? Or is he simply a part of the mass? What sort of decisions does on extra make; how does he prepare for a 'role'? In this context everything gets even more complicated by the fact that it is an extra playing an extra. How does an extra prepare to play an extra?

The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930)

Quick observation: Sternberg, one of the master's of mise-en-scène, carefully crafted all his films creating impeccable compositions. In this particular film they are full of anything that can entrap the characters (bars, fences, objects hanging from the ceiling, etc), a common motif among Sternberg films. It gives the viewers a sense of suffocation, of imprisonment, something his characters are constantly experiencing. Here, Prof. Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) tries to escape the monotony (prison like) of his daily existence and begins to visit Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich), leading to their marriage and his short-lived happiness (freedom). But, as many know, prison is inescapable (high recidivism rates, relapse) and Prof. Rath ends up even worse than hew was.

“I care nothing about the story, only how it is photographed and presented.”

- Josef von Sternberg

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