Review of Asphalt (1929) by Fernando V — 24 Sep 2010

Betty Amann is beguiling as a Louise Brooks-esque thief who casts her spell on a young policeman in this Ufa classic, one of the last of the studio's mega-productions of the silent era.

Walking home from a shift, policeman Gustav Froehlich ("Metropolis") notices a ruckus at a jewelry store; inside Amann has just been busted for lifting a diamond, and faithful to his job, despite being off duty, he takes her in. But the taxi ride to the station is just enough time for the girl to weave her seductive magic on the young man, and soon enough they are back at her swank apartment, clutched in a melodramatic clinch. Naturally, this leads to bad consequences, and lives are ruined on seemingly minor lies and actions.

Director Joe May, a longtime veteran hardly mentioned in history books today, grasps onto the dying aesthetic of Expressionism, and the opening shots of Berlin, a bustling city of pavement, cars, and humanity, could be straight out of "The Man with the Movie Camera", but this is more of a romantic melodrama in which the participants get jerked around for letting their emotions dictate their actions, and in it's lush production, could stand along Sternberg, Stroheim, and Murnau for visual pop.