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Reviewed by Lee Shoquist
There's something inherently funny about a man dressed as a woman. And I'm not referring to the most obvious and crass elements of the kind Hollywood today so frequently exploits in its handling of men in drag. Drag has been many things at different times in film - it's been played strictly for laughs (Some Like It Hot), it's been played for pain (Hedwig & the Angry Inch, actually transsexual drag), and it's been played for liberation (Tootsie). But what is most interesting are the psychological ramifications of a man living as a woman. There's something sublime about the idea that a man whose eyes are closed to much of female behavior and its mysteries - can only understand and fall in love with a woman - after the ultimate act of empathy for the feminine sex.
Very little has been written or is known about Fanfares of Love, a refreshing and gentle German comedy that plays drag for simple laughs. About all we know of the film is that it's major claim to fame has been as the inspiration for the classic Billy Wilder farce, Some Like it Hot.
But Fanfares of Love is a sweet-natured film that's currently making limited play-dates around the country as part of various film festivals. Highlighting German cinema after World War II and prior to the Berlin Wall, it has small virtues of its own that are modest yet nonetheless entertaining.
The plot is either classic or shopworn, depending on how you approach it. When two down-on-their-luck, jobless musicians dress up as women to join an all women's orchestra, all goes well until their ruse is complicated by love - and brought down by a slapstick game of one-upsmanship. Along the way, there are surprisingly contemporary laughs, attitudes and humor.
Hans and Peter (Dieter Borsche and Georg Thomalla) find themselves in a bit of a dilemma; penniless and desperate, they hatch a plan to join The Cyclamen, an all female orchestra. All goes well at first, but matters become more complicated when they both fall in love and begin to question the validity of the ruse, while romancing two lovely bandmates. Along the way, they engage in all sorts of shenanigans, including the invention of two convenient "brothers," as well as fending off the comic advances of other men.
The film, on the surface, is a simple sex comedy - two men awkwardly and unconvincingly dressed as women, narrowly escaping discovery as they switch in and out of drag for romantic liaisons. But Fanfares of Love is illuminated by wonderful music, beautiful costumes and glittering black and white cinematography.
Directed by Kurt Hoffmann, the film is a small treat that not only tells a warm, amusing story but it manages to showcase some wonderful swing and pop music of the time, as well as feature some lovely American-style Big Band music. In addition to the comic and aural pleasures of the film, the cinematography is radiant, with glittery sets and swooping crane shots enveloping the musical numbers.
I don't want to oversell the merits of Fanfares of Love, because it's a small film that pales in comparison to its classic American successor, Some Like it Hot, which is superior in just about every way - bigger, funnier, more star power. But Fanfares of Love is a good film in its own understated way, and as an example of optimistic post-war German cinema, it's a pleasant diversion.
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