Years before they became major players in Hollywood, a group of young German filmmakers-including eventual noir masters Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer and future Oscar winners Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann-worked together on the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag). This effervescent, sunlit silent, about a handful of city dwellers (a charming cast of nonprofessionals) enjoying a weekend outing, offers a rare glimpse of Weimar-era Berlin. A unique hybrid of documentary and fictional storytelling, People on Sunday was both an experiment and a mainstream hit that would influence generations of film artists around the world.
Supplements
Two scores: a silent-era-style score by the Mont Alto Orchestra and a modern one by Elena Kats-Chernin, performed by the Czech Film Orchestra
Weekend am Wannsee, Gerald Koll's 2000 documentary about the film, featuring interviews with star Brigitte Borchert and writer Curt Siodmak
Ins Blaue hinein, a thirty-six-minute short from 1931 by People on Sunday cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan
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