Déjà Revue: Simone Paget on THE SINNER (& some Rufus Wainwright)

Singer-actress Hildegard Knef had her breakthrough with this film, the most scandalous movie of 1950s German cinema – as much because of the first nude scene on screen as well as the discussions around censorship it raised. Marina, who has become a prostitute under unfortunate circumstances, finally meets the love of her life. But Alexander is fatally ill and might only survive if he undergoes very expensive surgery. To get the money for the operation, Marina starts to work as a prostitute again.

As a resilient femme fatale, on and off screen, Knef projected an equally ambiguous and daring image of women as her friend Marlene Dietrich. She briefly rose to Hollywood fame but was not willing to sell out and returned to Germany for a long and illustrious career as a singer and actor.

So much so that Canada's Rufus Wainwright does the occasional homage to the (queer) icon Knef, like at the Berlinale a few years back with "Für mich soll´s rote Rosen regnen." If you want to compare it to the original, here is Knef with her biggest hit, on stage in 1968.

P.S. If you need to bust the "Top 5 misconceptions about being a sex columnist," read Simone's demystification of her profession.

by @JuttaBrendemuhl