Asphalt (1929)Even people on opposite sides of the law can be drawn to one another. Asphalt (1929) is a crime movie and unlikely romance between an alluring jewel thief named Else Kramer (Betty Amann) and the naive traffic cop who arrests her, named Albert Holk (Gustav Fröhlich). After Else purloins a diamond from a jeweler in the tip of her umbrella and Albert sets out to take her to the police station, she convinces him to take her to her apartment instead--to claim her "papers". Once there, she puts on a seduction routine, ultimately pouncing on the rookie cop. While the distraught Albert is wracked with guilt over this interlude, Else discovers that she, too, is affected by the experience, her heart softening for the man she originally intended to exploit.
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1929 must have been quite the year for femme fatales with black helmet haircuts in German cinema. Just compare Amann's slightly curlier hairdo with that of Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. And while these are superficial similarities, both of their characters in their respective movies--made on the eve of the Great Depression--have much more in common, along with some differences. Because of the popularity of G. W. Pabst's films, it is helpful to compare them with Joe May's German expressionist drama here. Both director's films are set in bustling German cities and showcase the decadence and joie de vivre at play in this era. Some might observe that after World War I, Germany struggled with economic downturn attributed to the Versailles Treaty, but there will always be the rich at play. This was more true in Pandora's Box, yet all films address poverty. In Asphalt and Pandora's Box, the women come to this point, while in Diary of a Lost Girl, Thymian escapes it. The title of Asphalt is overlaid at the beginning with men toiling over the hot, eponymous street cover, setting the tone that this movie will explore life on these "modern" streets. Asphalt explores life in the city with extended shots of people going about their lives, including unrelated moments like a pickpocket with a monocle at work while passersby watch a woman in a window try on stockings in her undergarments. The most exuberant of these slices of city life, I would have to say, is when Albert is directing traffic. With surgical precision, he directs a mad flow of cars through packed intersections, only interrupted when he first lays eyes on Else, who causes an accident. Through these scenes, May paints a picture of the urban jungle in which its denizens carry on their daily business.
Coming back to Amann and Brooks, both women are framed to draw the eye in these movies. Else is only briefly introduced in the aforementioned fender bender, but we see much more of her at work in the jewelry store. Dressed in stylish and attractive clothes, wearing fetching makeup, and beaming a flirtatious smile, it's not hard to see why the wizened jeweler fails to notice that one of the diamonds has fallen onto the floor...but Else notices. Slyly concealing it in the tip of her umbrella, she almost escapes scot-free...until the jeweler's assistant points it out and they awkwardly follow Else into the city, making accusations. Conveniently, Albert steps in to investigate and skillfully finds the diamond, proving Else's malfeasance. Under arrest, she still puts on a show for her captor, desperate to appeal to the man's sense of chivalry (and sexual desire). She puts on a front of being a helpless, scared woman who desires a strong and handsome man like Albert to show pity...for which she would be ever so grateful. And when the moral officer resists (if barely), she decides more direct intervention is needed. Cut away to his guilty expression in the morning. Asphalt only later subverts the expectation that the woman is wanton and that the man is the victim, because both of them are forced to explore their feelings for one another. Ironically, this in turn suggests that by the end of the movie, it is the man who ultimately frees the woman from her sin through his bravery--not to mention sex and violence. Audiences can sympathize only so far with Albert, though. He does come from poverty, and lives with his parents in a small apartment. His father (Albert Steinrück) appears to be an officer of the law as well, and has firm convictions about honoring the law, even at the expense of his family. Albert is virtuous, but foolish. He should know what Else is trying to do from the start, but he either goes along with it because he is stupid or that he subconsciously wants to be seduced (which is the more interesting read). Else is the true star of the story, as it was with Lulu in Pandora's Box. The audience is always more interested in these devious flappers because they are more complicated characters. While Lulu may have been nigh-sociopathic with her lack of discretion and indifference toward the suffering she caused, Else claims that she steals to pay for her rent. (Nevermind that she lives in a palatial apartment with a maid!) She is a constant in the camera's eye, because May intends for audiences to fall in love with her, to better help them empathize with Albert. How could a man of the law fall into such an obvious scheme? Because he is, despite his boy scout appearance, a hot-blooded male, smoldering with passion, until desire proves too much even for him. The big difference between Lulu and Else is in the means by which they recant their sinful ways. For Lulu, it is all but a half-hearted afterthought, resulting in her death. Because Else has been a criminal, she must be punished, but since she is remorseful, it is not so harsh. In fact, May chooses to make his film more uplifting because in Asphalt, love conquers all...well, all except for charges of felonious larceny at least.
Recommended for: Fans of German expressionist silent films of the late 1920s--those heady days when filmmakers were experimenting with creative ways for cinema to tell a story. Asphalt may be a bit of a simple and tawdry tale of seduction and repentance, but it represents a style of film from a particular era--a historical record of filmmaking under pre-Nazi UFA.
Coming back to Amann and Brooks, both women are framed to draw the eye in these movies. Else is only briefly introduced in the aforementioned fender bender, but we see much more of her at work in the jewelry store. Dressed in stylish and attractive clothes, wearing fetching makeup, and beaming a flirtatious smile, it's not hard to see why the wizened jeweler fails to notice that one of the diamonds has fallen onto the floor...but Else notices. Slyly concealing it in the tip of her umbrella, she almost escapes scot-free...until the jeweler's assistant points it out and they awkwardly follow Else into the city, making accusations. Conveniently, Albert steps in to investigate and skillfully finds the diamond, proving Else's malfeasance. Under arrest, she still puts on a show for her captor, desperate to appeal to the man's sense of chivalry (and sexual desire). She puts on a front of being a helpless, scared woman who desires a strong and handsome man like Albert to show pity...for which she would be ever so grateful. And when the moral officer resists (if barely), she decides more direct intervention is needed. Cut away to his guilty expression in the morning. Asphalt only later subverts the expectation that the woman is wanton and that the man is the victim, because both of them are forced to explore their feelings for one another. Ironically, this in turn suggests that by the end of the movie, it is the man who ultimately frees the woman from her sin through his bravery--not to mention sex and violence. Audiences can sympathize only so far with Albert, though. He does come from poverty, and lives with his parents in a small apartment. His father (Albert Steinrück) appears to be an officer of the law as well, and has firm convictions about honoring the law, even at the expense of his family. Albert is virtuous, but foolish. He should know what Else is trying to do from the start, but he either goes along with it because he is stupid or that he subconsciously wants to be seduced (which is the more interesting read). Else is the true star of the story, as it was with Lulu in Pandora's Box. The audience is always more interested in these devious flappers because they are more complicated characters. While Lulu may have been nigh-sociopathic with her lack of discretion and indifference toward the suffering she caused, Else claims that she steals to pay for her rent. (Nevermind that she lives in a palatial apartment with a maid!) She is a constant in the camera's eye, because May intends for audiences to fall in love with her, to better help them empathize with Albert. How could a man of the law fall into such an obvious scheme? Because he is, despite his boy scout appearance, a hot-blooded male, smoldering with passion, until desire proves too much even for him. The big difference between Lulu and Else is in the means by which they recant their sinful ways. For Lulu, it is all but a half-hearted afterthought, resulting in her death. Because Else has been a criminal, she must be punished, but since she is remorseful, it is not so harsh. In fact, May chooses to make his film more uplifting because in Asphalt, love conquers all...well, all except for charges of felonious larceny at least.
Recommended for: Fans of German expressionist silent films of the late 1920s--those heady days when filmmakers were experimenting with creative ways for cinema to tell a story. Asphalt may be a bit of a simple and tawdry tale of seduction and repentance, but it represents a style of film from a particular era--a historical record of filmmaking under pre-Nazi UFA.