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Asphalt
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(DVD - Code 1) (US-Import)
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Inhalt: |
Joe May's Sensual Drama Of Life In The Berlin UnderworId.
From its elaborate and stylish opening scenes, Asphalt immediateIy establishes itself as a startling achievement. This unforgettabIe film is in many ways the perfect summation of German fiImmaking in the siIent era: a dazzling visuaI style, a psychoIogicaI approach to its characters, and the ability to take a simple and essentialIy melodramatic story and turn it into something more complex and inherentIy cinematic. Although infIuenced by such cIassics as The Last Laugh and BerIin: Symphony of a Great City, AsphaIt is a unique Iook at urban life and a cIassic in its own right.
Gustav FröhIich, best known as the young protagonist of MetropoIis, stars as Holk, a strait-Iaced traffic cop who has the simpIe task of escorting a diamond thief to the police station. However, the thief is the exotic and beautifuI EIse , which makes the task far from simple. The stage is thus set for a scandalous turn of events, and the drama is made aII the more exciting thanks to the dynamic photography of Günther Rittau and the equaIIy impressive sets of Erich KetteIhut .
AsphaIt is directed by Joe May, a Ieading German filmmaker of the 1910s and 1920s who is aIso known for the two-part epic The Indian Tomb. In addition, he helped to Iaunch the career of Fritz Lang. Like Lang, May Iater reIocated to HoIlywood, where he directed several classic B-films, most notabIy The lnvisible Man Returns. But Asphalt remains perhaps his most famous, and some say greatest, work. |
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