Movie: The Devil Is a Woman (Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
I didn't realise that this is an adaptation of the same novel, aptly titled The Woman and the Puppet, as That Obscure Object of Desire. Bunuel's film is mainly about the puppet, a rich man too self-centred to realise that money can't buy love, or even that his romantic interest changes appearance throughout- Conchita is played by two different actresses, Angela Molina and Carole Bouquet. performing completely independently from each other. Such surrealist touches to an otherwise mostly recognisable society back a playfully satiric commenary on the delusions of the rich and powerful. The Devil Is A Woman is more stylistically conventional, but also more mysterious and sinister, building to a punchiline that plays like a nihilistic private joke between von Sternberg and Dietrich.
Von Sternberg's film, mainly about the woman, begins at Carnaval in Seville, where a masked Antonio Galvan (Cesar Romero) spots Conchita (Marlene Dietrich) through the crowd. She invites him to look for her, without letting herself be found, prompting a pursuit across the partying city, all the way to her home. Sneaking outside her window, Antonio receives a note to meet her the next day in the forest for a carriage ride. Smitten, he fails to see the carnival decorations masking Seville's streets and residents as an ominous symbol of false, slippery identities, but he gets a clearer warning, bumping into his old friend Don Pasqual (Lionel Atwill). In a long flashback he tells of his own misbeggoten history with Conchita and how she consistently manipulated him, taking his money and his heart. Dietrich gives a great, funny performance, playing an unconvincing actress. Her obvious pretence, throughout the years, of true love is entirely disconnected from Don Pasqual's own account, presenting Conchita as a conniving, convincing hustler. Von Sternberg has little sympathy. The later revelation that "Pasqualito" tried to warn away his friend under false pretenses motivated by his enduring feelings for Conchita, doesn't negate that he was, and still is, a willfull sucker being misled by Conchita, Antonio, and his own illusions. It does however lead to a duel between the two men, which mostly sets up a perfect opportunity for Conchita to use her powers to their full effect.
Although the film presents Don Pasqual as especially feeble, most men in proximity of Conchita are equally helpless. It's no surprise this was Marlene Dietrich's favorite movie of hers. Few films have ever been so flattering of an actress. The Devil Is a Woman essentially posits that Dietrich's mere presence has an almost ethereal power over men and lets her revel in it. especially during its startling conclusion showing her conning and causing heartbreak simply for love of the game. The finale begins with a carriage seen in long shot driving Dietrich and her victim towards the camera, followed by a number of scenes showing the actions taken to complete this voyage. It ends with the same movements happening in the opposite direction, with the final shot being of the same carriage on the same spot moving away from the camera, emphasising that this journey orchestrated by Conchita took effort and time. Beyond inflicting pain and personal complications on her mark(s), she gets no material gain out of it.
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