Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959): USA

Reviewed by Collier Grimm. Viewed on DVD.

If you’re burning for a dose of good old-fashioned self-sacrifice, self-loathing, and melodrama with a twisted soap opera-like plot, Imitation of Life will scorch you. Douglas Sirk became famous through his direction of several over the top melodramas about white middle class families. A “Melodrama” technically means music along with drama. Sirk uses music, close-ups, dialogue, and costume to create intense emotional responses from his audience. His actors often use elaborate and expressive gestures and facial expressions in hopes of sending the viewer a bit “over the edge”.

Imitation of Life is Sirk’s last commercial film, and often considered his best. The gorgeous film siren Lana Turner stars as Lora Meredith, an out of work widow who dreams of pursuing acting. Juanita Moore plays Annie Johnson, a woman in quite similar circumstances expect for one. She’s black. Lora and Annie have two daughters around the same age, and decide to move in together with hopes of creating better lives for their girls.

We watch as Lora searches for work and Annie’s daughter, Sarah Jane, becomes more aware and ashamed of her skin color. Although she is light skinned, Sarah Jane rejects her color and continually tries to pass for white while her mother stands by hoping she will come to embrace her culture and heritage.

And that’s not even the half of it.

With several subplots and lust vs. love stories squeezed in between, the film becomes a weepier-then-normal version of “Days of Our Lives”, on crack. But don’t get me wrong, this is 1950s soap at its very best, just make sure you rinse after every viewing.