Imitation Of Life (DVD)

Melodramas such as Imitation of life are often characterised by multiple misunderstandings and misidentifications. The movie presents the ways how women transgress gender and racial boundaries. Narration is truly universal with several progressions from one dramatic event to the next. Genre - Melodrama Director - Douglas Sirk Release date - 1959 Nominated for 2 Oscars ( Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner) Cast: Lana Turner - Lora Meredith Juanita Moore -Annie Johnson John Gavin - Steve Archer Dan O'Herlihy -David ...  Read the complete review

Released in 1959, "Imitation of Life" was director Douglas Sirk's final Hollywood movie. Sirk's films from the 1950s are almost instantly recognisable - they have a unique cinematography which gives rich, lush colour and atmospheric lighting. They are also invariably so-called "women's pictures" and for a long time they were dismissed as mere soap operas by critics. His work was reassessed in the 1970s and I recall seeing "Written on the Wind" when I was a teenager and being struck at the drama he got in his films - both from the actors and from the cinematographers. Filmed in 1958, "Imitation of ...  Read the complete review