Red Sun — Red Sun( Blu Ray)
Red Sun is a late 60’s West German melodrama come crime film- with the genre elements largely reduced and fleeting until it’s resolved. It’s a film that feels very much akin to the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder- with its wondering & loose structural feel, and the decidedly improvised to stiltedly theatrical feel to the acting. The film certainly is an engaging, at times subtle skewed cinematic experience. And here from Radiance Films is the first-ever region free blu ray- taking in a commentary track, a few other on-disc extras, and a bulky 52-page booklet.
Red Sun (aka Rouge Sonne) was filmed in 1969 but wasn’t released until 1970. It was directed by Wallau, Germany Rudolf Thome. He had twenty-seven features to his name- these went from amateur detective crime drama Detektive (1969), age-separated romantic drama Berlin Chamissoplatz (1980), emotions-focused comedy drama Tarot (1986), and punk poet-focused romantic comedy-drama Pink (2009). So, he certainly picks intriguing focuses for his films, and if Red Sun is anything to go from an interesting at times curious angle.
The film opens in the back of travelling through the night car- and we’re focused on the back seat of the car. Where our lead character Thomas (Marquard Bohm) has just awoken from a boozy slumber. We hear the car's driver asking where exactly he wants to be dropped off, and it’s clear the driver of the car is somewhat fed up with him- as he picked him up for a chat, then he promptly fell asleep for the next two hours. Thomas nonchalantly insists that the driver goes out of his way to drop him off at his exactly wanted location- surprise, surprise he gets dropped off fairly soon- and with bare face cheek he asked if the driver would give him some money.
He staggers towards a nearby club- and is first turned away for not being properly dressed/ missing a tie. He rummages in nearby rubbish- finding a crumpled tie and makes his way into the club. And working behind the bar is Peggy (Uschi Obermaier) who is seemingly somewhat taken by the rather arrogant & opportunist Thomas. The night comes to an end, and she’s giving him a lift back to her apartment.
She lives in the apartment with three other twenty-something women Sylvie (Sylvia Kekulé), Christine (Diana Körner), and Isolde (Gaby Go). And from the off, there is something not quite right about the women. They are preparing some form of device, and we get fleeting glances at guns- and fairly early on we see a man tied up in one of the rooms of the apartment- though nothing is really filled in, explained or detailed.
For the first hour or so of the film, the focus is on the parasitic & frankly rather obnoxious Thomas as he works his way deeper into the lives of Peggy & her flatmates. Eating their food, spending their money, and to be blunt (using a crude bit of British slang) he’s taking the piss. I won’t reveal exactly what Peggy and her flatmates are up to/ involved in- as not knowing rather makes the watching experience that more intriguing/ engaging.
Acting wise Bohm effortlessly portrays his nonchalant, self-focused, and frankly very unlikeable Thomas. Obermaier is ok, but like quite a few actors in the film is deliberately stilted in her performance- though in its last quarter, there is more emotion/ feeling about her. The characters of both Sylvie and Christine are very vaguely sketched- though Go’s Isolde is given more depth, and becomes key as things unfold.
The apartment itself initially feels deliberately stage-like in its look/ presentation- and, for most of the film, you’ll think it is clearly a set. Though later it's revealed it is a real apartment. It’s not all purely set in the apartment- we get around the city shots, out in nature, and most key/important to the plot a lakeside location.
I’d certainly say you need to come at the film from a stagey/ at points slightly skewed melodrama- as yes there are crime genre elements here, but they are deliberately sidelined/ played down. So, if you are going into this expecting a crime/ thriller you will be disappointed & underwhelmed. I’d also say you need to be a fan of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's take on filmmaking- yes Thome has his own take on this type of melodrama-but it’s very Fassbinder-like.
Moving onto this new region free Blu Ray, and we get an HD transfer of the film overseen by the director. This is a nicely bright & bold print- with a well-defined sound, and easy-to-read English subtitles. On the extras side of the disc, we get selected scene commentary from Thome and Rainer Langhans, Obermaier's boyfriend and Kommune 1 member who served as inspiration for the film and was on set for the shoot. This is in German with English subtitles and is very free-flowing/ wondering in its tone- though there certainly is some worth to be had, and you can also play it in one go, or as separate commentary snippets.
Otherwise, we have Rote Sonne between Pop Sensibility and Social Critique (20.39) which is a visual essay by scholar Johannes von Moltke. He talks about why the film still remains striking. It’s simple plot, yet it offers up a host of unanswered questions. How it has a comic strip almost unreal feel, and the way the film plays with surfaces. Then we have From Oberhausen to the Fall of the Wall (49.53) which finds academic and programmer Margaret Deriaz charting the development of New German Cinema from the early 60’s to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This is most fascinating giving a great overview of the key players in the scene, and their key films. So all in all in a good selection of interesting/ informative extras- but that’s not all.
The set comes with a bulky fifty-two-page booklet- which is packed. There’s new writing on the film by Samm Deighan, newly translated archival letters by Wim Wenders, critic Enno Patalas and the German Film Evaluation Office on the film's official submission, a newly translated archival interview with Rudolf Thome, and an overview of reviews of the film.
It’s marvellous to see this respected but rarely seen German film getting such a classy reissue from Radiance Films. And let us hope it’s a popular release- so we get reissues of similar important/ but lesser-seen examples of New German cinema from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.