Die freudlose Gasse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Die freudlose Gasse | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Georg Wilhelm Pabst |
| Written by | Hugo Bettauer (novel) Willy Haas |
| Starring | Greta Garbo Asta Nielsen |
| Cinematography | Guido Seeber Curt Oertel Robert Lach |
| Editing by | Marc Sorkin |
| Distributed by | Sofar-Film-Produktion GmbH |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Die freudlose Gasse ("The Joyless Street") is a film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, filmed in 1925 in Germany. It's the well-known film version of a book by Hugo Bettauer and one of the first films of the movement „New Objectivity“. It stars Greta Garbo in her second starring role. The film is often described as a morality story in which the 'fallen woman' suffers for her sins, while the more virtuous woman gets the happy end[1].
[edit] Plot
In the poverty-stricken part of town called Melchiorgasse in Austria in the year 1921 inhabited by impoverished gentry and blue-collar workers there are only two wealthy people: the butcher Josef Geiringer and his wife. Mrs. Greifer runs a fashion boutique and a nightclub patronized by the wealthier class of Vienna. Annexed to the nightclub is „Merkl“ hotel, a by-the-hour establishment, in which the women of the nightclub prostitute themselves in order to pay back their debts to Frau Greifer. The film follows the plights of two women from the same neighborhood in their attempts to pull themselves out of the rubble of postwar hyper-inflation: Marie, who lives in abject poverty, succumbs to the lure of prostitution. Grete, from a struggling family used to better circumstances, takes the higher road.
At the end of the film, a sick and impoverished Else kills the butcher because she won't give her any meat and the poor in the neighborhood, hearing the sounds from the nightclub, begin a stone-throwing revolt against the rich. In the ruckus, the building goes up in flames, killing a pair of beggars. In the end, only Grete seems to have any hope of someday rising out Melchiorgasse, because of her relationship with an American red cross officer.
[edit] Trivia
The name "Frau Greifer" literally means "Mrs. Grabber", a metaphor for the stranglehold that poverty and prostitution have on women who fall into that way of life.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Essay by Michael Kohler on The Joyless Street at Senses of Cinema: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/04/32/the_joyless_street.html
