Written on the wind

Blu-ray - 2022

The Technicolor expressionism of Douglas Sirk reached a fever pitch with this operatic tragedy, which finds the director pushing his florid visuals and his critiques of American culture to their subversive extremes. Alcoholism, nymphomania, impotence, and deadly jealousy; these are just some of the toxins coursing through a massively wealthy, degenerate Texan oil family. When a sensible secretary has the misfortune of marrying the clan's neurotic scion, it drives a wedge between him and his lifelong best friend that unleashes a maelstrom of psychosexual angst and fury. Featuring an unforgettably debauched, Oscar-winning supporting performance by Dorothy Malone and some of Sirk₂s most eye-popping mise-en-scéne, this film is as perver...se a family portrait as has ever been splashed across the screen. more