“A heartless parable of man’s eternal humiliation in the sex struggle.”
—The New York Times
“Both Sternberg’s and Dietrich’s favorite film… The film revolves around Dietrich, more ravishing than ever, brimming with vitality and exuding nonchalance. Underlying the story of the mysterious femme fatale who causes trouble, then disappears, and the man who allows himself to be treated like dirt, virtually to his dying day, we are left feeling that there is something that we can’t quite put our finger on.”
—Thierry de Navacelle
The final Sternberg/Dietrich film. If the idea of Marlene Dietrich playing a Spanish femme fatale in a soapy, anti-capitalist, dominance-and-submission parable appeals to you, then get in line. This is the cinema of sidelong glances and astonishing, elegant hats and corsages that take up half the frame. In many ways, this is the culminating example of the Sternbergian kitsch aesthetic.