Released in 1930, People on Sunday--one of the final expressions of the silent era in an industry giving over to sound cinema--became a surprise hit, a highly influential film and, over the years, something of a legend, as it was almost impossible to see in the United States for decades. And reputation aside, the collective that made it include some pretty significant names: Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer shared director credit, Billy (listed here as Billie) Wilder is credited with the script, "from a reportage by" Robert Siomak's brother Curt (credited here as Kurt) Siodmak, with the legendary cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan behind the camera and Fred Zinneman assisting. That line-up alone (which includes more than one future Oscar winner) made the film a kind of grail for fans of classic movies and film history. The inventive filmmaking, breezy pace, light touch, luscious images and gentle, appreciative spirit of the film makes it a classic.
The premise is simplicity itself: a handsome young wine salesman (Wolfgang von Waltershausen) flirts with a pretty young movie extra (Christl Ehlers) at an outdoor café as she waits for a date to show ("I don't get stood up," she assures the forward young Wolfgang). They agree to meet up the next day for a picnic in the country and each arrives with a friend in tow: Wolfgang with his taxi driver buddy Erwin (Erwin Splettstösser) and Christl accompanied by Brigitte (Brigitte Borchert), a pretty blond record salesgirl. A fifth (Annie Schreyer) never shows, sleeping through her alarm clock and through the day, but this quartet doesn't care. They swim, picnic, nap, canoodle, stroll through the woods and listen to records on a portable Victrola.
The film has been described as a "city symphony" film, a tradition exemplified by Walter Ruttmann's Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) and Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie Camera (1929), both masterpieces of non-narrative filmmaking. And it is constructed in movements with variations on the themes carried on through interludes: the camera leaves our quartet to survey the crowds of like-minded folks also enjoying their Sunday. The jaunty montages of children and adults at rest and play are a mix of spirited comedy, romantic travelogue and documentary portrait. Yet People on Sunday, while it offers a cross-section of Berlin youth in its attractive leads and a jazzy tour of the bustle of the city and the more relaxed pace of play in the Wannsee playgrounds, is neither visual poem nor abstract or avant-garde documentary. Under the bubbly surface of innocent flirtations and breezy fun is the story of budding romance and a portrait of life at the end of Weimar era. There is no political subtext to the film, no message beyond trying to capture the buzzing energy and cultural richness of Berlin in 1929 (before the depression brought the economy crashing down again), but knowing that the hope and freedom and artistic culture we see on screen would be gone in just a few years with the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party adds a dimension of poignancy to the idealism.
Though this the debut of co-directors Robert Siodmak (who was currently toiling as an assistant director) and Edgar G. Ulmer (a rising you art director and set designer), they show both a command of their skills and a delicacy of expression, and the lightfingered confidence and breezy elegance of the storytelling is matched by witty asides (a montage of statues is a young cinephile's witty tribute to Eisenstein) and the gorgeous photography of Eugen Schüfftan. The mix of naturalism, visual poetry, youthful energy and frisky sexuality is irresistible, and the hints of harmless (yet still painful) anxiety and jealousy around a budding romantic triangle gives it a human dimension beyond the free-spirited fun of youth at play. This is a film that exceeds its reputation.
Criterion releases of the American home video debut of the film on DVD and Blu-ray, mastered from a 1997 reconstruction and restoration, the most complete version in the world (though still a few hundred feet short of its original release, according film restorer Martin Koerber). It's a fine-looking presentation that captures just what a lovely, lyrical film it was upon its original release and it features a beautiful recreation of the original hand-written German intertitles (with English subtitles beneath), which adds to the distinctive, idiosyncratic personality of the film. The disc offers a choice of two original scores, a bouncy, swinging silent-era-style score compiled and performed by the Mont Alto Orchestra and a modern composition composed by Elena Kats-Chernin and performed by the Czech Film Orchestra.
The half-hour documentary "Weekend am Wannsee" is a 2000 production that both chronicles the restoration and reconstruction of the film and explores its production and legacy. It includes interviews with co-star Brigitte Borchert and scenarist Curt Siodmak, both in their nineties but full of remembrances. "The idea was that the city goes to the country and takes the people with it," recalls Siodmak, while Borchert explains how the production was full of improvisations and how accidents on the set--such as the broken record during the picnic--were worked into the story. Also features the 1931 short film Ins Blaue hinein directed by Eugen Schüfftan and a booklet with featuring a new essay by film scholar Noah Isenberg and excerpts from writings by scriptwriter Billy Wilder and director Robert Siodmak recalling the film.
For more information about People on Sunday, visit The Criterion Collection. To order People on Sunday, go to TCM Shopping.
by Sean Axmaker
