What is Douglas Sirk?
'''Douglas Sirk''' (April 26, 1897 &ndash; January 14, 1987) was a movie director. He is best known for his lush romantic movies of the 1950s such as ''[[All That Heaven Allows]]''. His movies were thought banal and unimportant by contemporary critics. Today however they are regarded as masterpieces and [[irony|ironic]] commentaries on American life and society. == Sirk's life and work == Sirk was born Hans Detlef Sierck in [[Hamburg]], [[Germany]]. His parent were Danish. He grew up in [[Denmark]], but moved to [[Germany]] as a teenager. His theater career began in 1922 and his movie career in 1934. He left Germany in 1937. By 1942 he was directing movies in [[Hollywood]]. He is famous for lush romantic movies made between 1952 and 1958. At the height of his career, he quit making movies. He left the United States. Sirk died in [[Lugano]], [[Switzerland]] about thirty years later. In 1985, he was awarded the [[Bayerischer Filmpreis|Bavarian Film Award]], Honorary Award.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bayern.de/Anlage19170/PreistraegerdesBayerischenFilmpreises-Pierrot.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-02-16 |archive-date=2008-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819211539/http://www.bayern.de/Anlage19170/PreistraegerdesBayerischenFilmpreises-Pierrot.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> == A selection of Sirk's movies == * ''[[Magnificent Obsession (1954 film)|Magnificent Obsession]]'' (1954) * ''[[All That Heaven Allows]]'' (1955) * ''[[Written on the Wind]]'' (1956) * ''[[Imitation of Life (1959 film)|Imitation of Life]]'' (1959) ==What the critics thought== Sirk's movies were very successful at the box office, but the critics did not like them. They thought his movies unimportant and banal because they were about women and exaggerated emotions. His conspicuous style was considered unrealistic. Critical opinion changed in the 1970s. Analysis revealed Sirk's movies actually criticized American society beneath a banal surface plot. His movies are now regarded as masterpieces of [[irony]].