Name: El ángel azul
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Genre: Drama
Released: 1930
Cast: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron

Question 1

Why do you think the professor abandoned everything he had for a passion he knew was destructive?

Accepted Answer

Classic tragedy about moral degradation due to disordered passion. *The Blue Angel* is one of the first German sound films and a milestone of classical moral tragedy. The story of Rath, the professor who abandons his dignity and vocation for an obsession with a cabaret singer, does not celebrate the fall — it exposes it with an almost…

Question 2

What does this story teach us about the importance of personal dignity and vocation?

Accepted Answer

tragedy. The story of Rath, the professor who abandons his dignity and vocation for an obsession with a cabaret singer, does not celebrate the fall — it exposes it with an almost unbearable rawness. Von Sternberg constructs a meticulous descent: each scene is another rung…

Question 3

At what point could the protagonist have taken another path and what would have saved him?

Accepted Answer

session with a cabaret singer, does not celebrate the fall — it exposes it with an almost unbearable rawness. Von Sternberg constructs a meticulous descent: each scene is another rung towards public humiliation and the loss of self. Marlene Dietrich embodies not a romantic ideal…