Film Review
In common with several of G.W. Pabst's films,
Abwege
caused considerable controversy when it was first released in Germany,
not least because of Brigitte Helm's daringly realistic portrayal of a sexually frustrated
bourgeois wife. (Helm is now most famous for her role as the robot Maria in Fritz
Lang's
Metropolis (1927).)
The film is unusual for two reasons. First, the feelings of its protagonists
are explored with unprecedented psychological depth. Notice how effectively
their intense inner moods are contrasted with the superficial world in which they live -
throughout, there is a fierce conflict between desire and
security, freedom and stability. Second, Pabst employs what we would
now term a voyeuristic form of photography, which makes the spectator
feel guilty about and/or derive a salacious thrill from peeping into the lives of the characters.
This approach helps to accentuate the sense of conflict in Irene's mind,
her inability to reconcile the inner and outer worlds, her desire
for freedom with the staid conventions of her class.
Abwege may not have the dramatic impact and emotional intensity of some of
Pabst's other films of this period (notably
Die Freudlose Gasse (1925) and
Pandora's Box (1929),
which benefited from the star appeal of Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks respectively),
but it still has much in its favour. Helm's remarkably vivid
portrayal of a woman tortured by her natural urges,
a set-piece scene in a night club which shows so much of the moral
decay of German society in the twilight years of the Weimar Republic,
and some astonishingly elegant photography - these are just
some of the qualities that make the film so memorable.
The reason why this film is somewhat less well-known than Pabst's other work
is because one reel of the original film was lost.
Abwege has been recently
restored to its former glory, from a surviving poor quality French print.
© James Travers 2007
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Georg Wilhelm Pabst film:
Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü (1929)
Film Synopsis
Thomas Beck may be a successful lawyer but he is also a chronic workaholic
and rarely does he find the time to offer his wife Irene the tenderness she
pines for. Irene looks elsewhere for affection and believes she finds
it in a handsome painter, Walter Frank. When he realises what is happening,
Beck tries to put an end to his wife's budding relationship with the young
artist, but she retaliates by slipping away from home one night and visiting
a sordid Berlin nightclub. Under the intoxicating influence of
drugs and hard liquor, Irene falls for the earthy charms of the boxer Sam
Tayler. This new life of unbridled freedom appeals so strongly to Irene
that she knows she can never return to her former existence and play the
part of the dutiful wife...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.