Sirkian Sundays: Celebrating the films and influence of Douglas Sirk

Today, Douglas Sirk is remembered as one of Hollywood’s most distinctive and influential directors. Across a series of melodramas, where he combined the codes and conventions of the style with a concern for contemporary social issues, he made some of the most distinguished films to emerge from American cinema in the 1950s. 

Strange as it may seem, for a number of years Sirk was dismissed as the maker of mere ‘women’s pictures’ and his films were forgotten by serious critics. However, in the 1970s his output was re-discovered by writers and filmmakers who celebrated his subversive politics and striking visual style. Since then, his reputation has grown and his lush Hollywood melodramas have become a major influence for filmmakers from Rainer Werner Fassbinder to Pedro Almodóvar to Aki Kaurismäki. 

This season of Sirkian Sundays offers HOME audiences the opportunity to see some of the director’s most lauded films on the big screen in all their glory – alongside some of those that most clearly bear his influence. 

Season curated by Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at University of Salford and Senior Visiting Curator: Film at HOME.