Trend Of Two: Sirk Du Cinema

Todd Haynes’ domestic tearjerker Far From Heaven is getting lots of buzz as a full-on homage to 1950s melodrama maestro Douglas Sirk, but stars Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid aren’t the only ones in on the Sirk-us act. The late director gets an unlikely shout-out in 8 Mile, which also debuted Nov. 8. In a scene as the mom of Eminem’s aspiring rapper, Kim Basinger views Sirk’s 1959 classic, Imitation of Life, on TV. ”It felt authentic, like something [she] would watch while doing her nails,” says 8 Mile director Curtis Hanson. ”Sirk’s movie deals with single mothers and racial issues — an interesting mirror image of our story.”