The Legacy of the Sirkian Style

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to address the question: What exactly is the "Sirkian" style? This style will be looked at in relation to the other filmmakers this project has decided to focus on as well as establishing the definition of it by examining it within the career of Douglas Sirk (born Detlef Sierck). While this will partially be an examination of Sirk's career as a whole which leads to what can eventually be deemed as "Sirkian," the film that will highlight these aesthetic and thematic recurrences will be Written On The Wind (1956), arguably the film that has been most written about within Sirk's oeuvre. This is no mistake. Written On The Wind's sublime melting together of pathos and irony alongside the abundance of academic writing examining this film is exactly what allows this film to be so rich as a way of locating and examining this Sirkian style. This style which presents itself throughout the entirety of Sirk's, and the other director's works, will be examined in this project in order to showcase its lasting impact within melodramatic cinema.