This film is currently unavailable
Imitation of Life
Douglas Sirk’s final Hollywood film is a masterpiece of melodrama, for which Juanita Moore became the fifth African-American Oscar-nominee.
Director: Douglas Sirk
Overview
Douglas Sirk’s final Hollywood film is a masterpiece of melodrama, combining themes of class race and gender with the director’s infamous penchant for sly subversion. The second adaptation of Fannie Hurst's novel after John M. Stahl’s 1934 film, it tells the story of a struggling actress (Lana Turner) and her friendship with her widowed black housemaid (Juanita Moore), whose white-skinned daughter (Susan Kohner) rejects her African-American heritage.
Delivering his final Hollywood film before returning to his native Germany, Sirk is here at his acerbic and playful peak, puncturing with glee the social mores of white-picket-fenced 1950s America. Moore became the fifth African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award, while Kohner was also nominated in the same Best Supporting Actress category. Ranked joint 75th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll.
Contains racial identity theme, racist references and sex references
Related
That Night's Wife That Night's Wife
Crime 1930 64 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Young father Shuji turns to crime to pay his daughter's medical bills in Ozu's masterly early drama.
A Mother Should be Loved A Mother Should be Loved
Melodrama 1934 74 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
The surviving, incomplete version of Ozu's moving silent drama about a young man struggling to deal with a disturbing family secret.
Tokyo Twilight Tokyo Twilight
Drama 1957 141 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Abandoned by their mother, sisters Akiko (Ineko Arima) and Takako (Setsuko Hara) live with their father Shukichi (Chishu Ryu). When Akiko falls into desperate trouble, she turns away from her family.
Pink String and Sealing Wax Pink String and Sealing Wax
Crime 1946 90 mins Director: Robert Hamer
Gordon Jackson stars in a seething tale of family conflict, murder and blackmail in Victorian Brighton.
Blanche Fury Blanche Fury
Period drama 1948 94 mins Director: Marc Allégret
Valerie Hobson stars as the scheming governess with designs on taking over the Fury estate, in this atmospheric Gothic melodrama
The Mask The Mask
Melodrama 1953 28 mins Director: Don Chaffey
This Gothic-tinged short melodrama packs a cocktail of infidelity, deformity and jealousy into its tale of love gone sour.
45 Years 45 Years
Drama 2015 95 mins Director: Andrew Haigh
One of the most acclaimed British features of recent years, starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as a couple rocked by news from the past.
52 Tuesdays 52 Tuesdays
Drama 2013 110 mins Director: Sophie Hyde
A mother undergoing a gender transition meets his estranged daughter every Tuesday, changing gradually each time they meet. An intelligent indie hit about modern identity.
99 Homes 99 Homes
Drama 2014 112 mins Director: Ramin Bahrani
With precision and pertinence, Ramin Bahrani’s drama reveals the human cost of the 21st-century economic crisis.
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front
War 1930 133 mins Director: Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone's pioneering, Oscar®-winning film is one of the most powerful films about the consequences of war
American Gangster American Gangster
Crime 2007 157 mins Director: Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott’s heavyweight crime drama follows the rise and fall of drug-runner Frank Lucas, commandingly portrayed by Denzel Washington.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Finisterre Finisterre
Documentary 2003 59 mins Director: Kieran Evans and Paul Kelly
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.
This Is Tomorrow This Is Tomorrow
2007 54 mins Director: Paul Kelly
The final part of Saint Etienne and Paul Kelly’s London trilogy follows the renovation and reopening of the Royal Festival Hall through 2005-7.