An ebullient celebration of the voluptuousness of the cinematic image and the creative possibilities of sound technology, Morocco is one of the defining films of its era. Director Josef von Sternberg's stylistic trademarks - lateral tracks through enclosed spaces, shadow-laden compositions, and circular movements around central light sources - are richly complemented by a dense soundtrack featuring voices in five languages and the incomparable singing of Marlene Dietrich. Morocco was the first film released in Japan with subtitles, and it was an avowed influence on filmmakers ranging from Kenji Mizoguchi and Akira Kurosawa to Hirokazu Kore-eda.