Douglas Sirk done by Todd Hyanes — an interview

“Born in Hamburg in 1900 (as Detlef Sierck), the legendary director hobnobbed with the likes of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in 1920s Germany, then fled the Nazi regime at the beginning of World War II. In Hollywood, he rechristened himself and made his name off a series of bold Technicolor weepies —”Magnificent Obsession,” “Imitation of Life,” “Written on the Wind” — shot for Universal Pictures in the 1950s. Sirk’s films wed a moralizing instinct to a genre, the domestic melodrama, known for its overheated emotions and torrid plot turns.

Sirk’s vibrantly hued and socially engaged movies served as the inspiration for director Todd Haynes’ newest film, "Far From Heaven." Set in Hartford, Conn., in 1957, "Far From Heaven" centers on the seemingly picture-perfect Whitaker family.”

Salon.com