I get the sense that Stahl partisans (Stahlinists? Anybody?) want to get past comparisons to Douglas Sirk. Here in Bologna, there have been a conspicuous lack of references to the latter in conversations and official introductions. But Stahl will always be compared to Sirk -- the wild convergence of their careers at crucial moments across decades ensures that. And they make for a good study in contrasts: a lot of the lazy characterisations of Sirk’s style that still run rampant…