Schroeter, whose goddessis the diva, Maria Callas, was inspired by the romantic fate of yetanother mythical opera star, Maria Malibran, who, in 1836, literallysang herself to death, collapsing on stage. The Death of Maria Malibran,Schroeter's 1972 masterpiece, seems bent on emulating its eponymousheroine; the film is Malibran's passion, condensed. Magdalena Montezumaand Warhol superstar Candy Darling head a cast of women andtransvestites who perform still-life duets in a series of theatrical,painterly tableaux; like moving statues, with the slightest gesturesthey evoke the gamut of romantic allusions. Theirs is a sensuality ofthe mind, in lamp-lit faces and silent screams. As always, whenSchroeter's camera moves outside of these hermetic interiors, he managesto find the same rich colorization in forests and clouds, and to find"ancient" ruins in modern settings. The soundtrack weavesopera and Shakespeare, blues and country music (Marty Robbins singing"Carmen"?) into a tapestry of mock classicism and trashymodernism; dialogue is in whispered snippets, in English and German (nosubtitles necessary). For Schroeter, it seems that male form flows intofemale just as mock passion flows into ghostly sadness. Thus it is nocontradiction that, having dedicated the film to yet another fated diva,Janis Joplin, he has her impersonated by an enormous transvestite.