Marlene Dietrich gegen Zarah Leander

A documentary from the Duelle series. It may be the same thing over and over again, and the same people keep commenting on Dietrich and Leander, but at least it maintains some awareness of the subject, because such hour-long TV documentaries are consumer goods. The popularizer Guido Knopp already said the main things in his book and in the documentary series, and here we get at least an attempt to compare the careers of both fascinating women and artists. Yet it also takes more reading between the lines and having first-hand viewing experience of both films, and having listened to their songs and knowing their biographies, so that one doesn't get caught up in every subjective consideration. Leander is often overly demonized and Dietrich is praised. But we forget, for example, that they both had hard careers in the first place. (01/05/2021)