Fred, a toy company executive, feels alienated by his wife (Joahn Bennett) and kids who essentially take advantage of his good-natured demeanor. While on a business trip, Fred bumps into his old flame Norma (Barbara Stanwyck), and the two spend the weekend catching up. Eventually Fred begins to fall back in love with Norma, a woman who shows him more affection and attention than his wife or kids seem to. Douglas Sirk, the master of the melodrama, creates another fantastic film with "There's Always Tomorrow". I don't think I have ever seen a film that takes a more mature, intellectual look into adultry. The moral dilemma is throughly examined, while never beeing biased or leading towards one side of the issue. Sirk shows how things can escalate when a man feels under-appreciated and a very lonely mental state, even when he is happily married with three children. Fred has needs and desires of his own, feeling trapped in a family unit with no time to be adventurous with his wife, no way to fuel the passion. Nothing is black and white in this film, but Sirk loves to explore the gray area playing with perception vs. reality,exploring every character's perspective from Fred and Norma, to Fred's son Vinnie, who is the first to suspect his father is cheating. As great as how the story unfolds, the exquisite compositions, framing and stylish camera movements really elevate the film to another level. Everything feels incredibly thought out and designed to tell the story not only through the story, but visually as well. I love how the family portrait is strategically placed in certain shots, the camera lingering on it in others, iliciiting the stakes of this potential adulterious relationship. The deeper I explore Douglas Sirk's filmography, the clearer it becomes that he was one of the master storytellers. 9/10
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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