Abschied (Blu-ray)

ABSCHIED (FAREWELL) represents the directorial debut of fledgling screenwriter Robert Siodmak. Co-written by Emeric Pressburger, the story concentrates on the various amours of boarding-house resident Hella (Brigitte Horney). After playing the field for several reels, she finally settles down with vacuum-cleaner salesman Peter Winkler (Aribert Mog). Costing a mere 60,000 marks, the film cannot help but look cheap; it is Siodmak's "avant-garde" directorial style, freely borrowed from several of the filmmakers whom he most admired, that carries the day. Though ABSCHIED didn't make much of a dent at the box office, the reviews were good, encouraging producer Eric Pommer to keep young Robert Siodmak in the director's chair -- thereby launching a career that would endure well into the 1960s.