If you loved Shanghai Express, try The Scarlet Empress
A bridge between a film you've already seen and one most people haven't. Here's what they share, and what the second one does that the first one doesn't.
What they share
Both films are directed by Josef von Sternberg, and they both carry the outsider mood tag, and they sit in Drama / Romance territory. If that's the register that drew you to Shanghai Express, the second film will land in a comparable space — through a different lens.
outsider
What The Scarlet Empress is
Here's a film that knows its history only in the sense that it happened, allegedly. Catherine arrives in Russia to marry the goofy Grand Duke Peter. She finds herself in a loveless marriage, so Catherine takes lovers and plans a coup. It certainly gives you an idea of what things looked like, if not what they were.
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