People on Sunday (1930)

 Robert Siodmak & Edgar G. Ulmer's "People on Sunday"


The most impressive thing about "People on Sunday" is not the fact that it is a 'film without actors,' as the opening title cards suggest. It is also not that it takes it inspiration from Germany's New Objectivity Movement. It is not even the fact that a young 23-year-old Billy Wilder contributed to the film's script (before eventually leaving for America). Rather, the most impressive element of the Siodmak Brothers' "People on Sunday" is the retrospective viewpoint of the film in context with that period of time in German history. 

After Germany had experienced a great fallout during World War I in the late 1910s, it was experiencing existential and economic troubles in the 1920s. By the summer of 1929, when the film was shot, the troubles were not over. In fact, they were just beginning. However, as "People on Sunday" illuminates, this era of Germany was right in the sweet spot. It takes place after the First World War and before Hitler takes power in 1933. When watching the film, it really does feel like you are experiencing a Sunday afternoon - taking time off from the stressors that had come before and the stressful week to come. 

The plot of the film is relatively simple. Two men and two women go on a group date to the beach. They spend their time basking in the sun, listening to music, and (sometimes) enjoying each other's company. The film is a blend of documentary style filmmaking and fictional storying using non-actors. 

When walking away from the film, I was reminded constantly of the warm sunlight that was present in mostly ever scene. And that's exactly what I think of when regarding the film in my mind. It is a bask in the Sunday sun. It is a brief respite from the grueling work week (and the grueling chaos that sandwiched this period in Germany). 



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