All that Heaven Allows: Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk was the unparalleled master of movie melodrama during the 1950s. His films would inspire countless other directors and film-makers with his eye for emotion, scene construction, and color. Largely dismissed by critics during his hey-day, Sirk's films were later re-evaluated by European critics in the 1970s. They revealed that Sirk's films were masterpieces of irony and subversiveness against American culture in the 1950s. Chief among them is All that Heaven Allows, a film starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. The film follows Cary Scott, a rich New England widow who falls in love with her lower class gardener Ron Kirby. Their love is scorned by Scott's spoiled college age children and socialite friends. She tragically breaks their affair off under the weight of social pressures. However, after Kirby suffers a terrible accident, she realizes that she can't stay away from him and deny true love. The film is a classic piece of melodrama. When viewed by modern viewers, it inevitably feels over-the-top and cheesy. But that was how melodrama worked over half a century ago. From an artistic standpoint, All that Heaven Allows is sumptuously beautiful and expertly shot. But it is the story and its disdain for 1950s conformity that sets it apart as a true classic of American cinema.

9/10