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Imitation of Life

1959

Douglas Sirk

Lana Turner, John Gavin, Susan Kohner, Sandra Dee ...

7.6

8,924

Drama Aspiring actress Lora Meredith meets Annie Johnson a homeless black woman at Coney Island and soon they share a tiny apartment. Each woman has an intolerable daughter, though Annie's little girl Sarah Jane, is by far the worse. Neurotic and obnoxious, Sarah Jane doesn't like being black; since she's light-skinned (her father was practically white), she spends the rest of the film passing as white, much to her mother's heartache and ... [+]

	Author	Review
United Kingdom	Ian Freer Empire	"Sirk displays his usual array of alienation techniques — placing objects between the actors and the characters to deny us identification (...) It’s a sophisticated approach and one that bizarrely makes for a more moving experience (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Ed Gonzalez Slant	"Beneath the surface of 'Imitation of Life' lies the reality of what Sirk rightfully believed was a seriously deranged American society (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Richard Brody The New Yorker	"A melodramatic torrent of rage at the corrupt core of American life—the unholy trinity of racism, commercialism, and puritanism."	POS
United States	TV Guide	"You'll be horrified at how this hokum manipulates you, but the best strategy is to just surrender and enjoy it (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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