My Life For Zarah Leander

• 1986
• 1 hr 30 mins

• Watchlist

Director Christian Blackwood has brought forth more than 40 documentaries in 25 years, most of them specializing in artists' and filmmakers' work and/or biographies. This docudrama represents a new approach and melds the single-minded adoration of one fan, Paul Seiler, with film clips and archival interviews with Swedish Zarah Leander, an actress from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. She was a haunting chanteuse whose distinctive voice and great beauty captivated many during the era of the Third Reich. She ultimately left Germany for Stockholm in 1943, in spite of Goebbels attempts to keep her working in the Nazi film industry. In this fictionalized drama, Paul watches a documentary about her on television while he intermittently spills out his emotions and history as one of her most ardent fans. Paul became friends with the star and attended her recording sessions, held her hand when she got bad reviews, corresponded with her on a regular basis, and personally questions her ethics in refusing to face up to Nazi atrocities. His psychology, her own personality, and their interaction make for an intriguing and unusual docudrama.