While it was common during the silent era for Europeans like Greta Garbo and Rudolph Valentino to cross the Atlantic and make it big in America, Louise Brooks, as was her nature, went against the grain and headed in the opposite direction, where she made it big in three European films, two directed by G. W. Pabst. Of the two, "Pandora's Box" is the better film, but "Diary of a Lost Girl" is the film that made me fall in love with the girl in the black helmet.
"Diary" doesn't have the sure hand of Pabst's direction in "Pandora," but it does have a story and characters that are more easily accessible. And though I feel "Pandora" is one of the greatest films ever made, it took me a few viewings to recognize the scope of its originality. And Brooks' character Lulu, though fascinating and exquisitely performed, is somewhat impenetrable.
Thymian, the character Brooks plays in "Diary," is an innocent caught up in circumstance and the social mores of her time. The very nature of her character makes us care what happens to her. Without resorting to cloying sentimentality, Pabst manages to create a character in Thymian that gets under our skin emotionally, even when she succumbs to manipulation by others. (Big spoilers in next sentence, so skip to next paragraph if you haven't seen the film): After being raped, giving birth to an illegitimate child and sent away by her family to an institution for delinquent girls, then losing her baby and becoming a prostitute, Pabst keeps us rooting for her to succeed in life, however she chooses.
Pabst's effectiveness is due in no small part to Brooks' performance. Her detractors have suggested that she wasn't much of an actress, just a pretty face playing herself. Yet, all anyone has to do is see the two Pabst films back to back to realize what different characters Brooks created from two, in many ways, similar roles. I do not see an ounce of Lulu in Thymian. If Brooks was channeling just herself, she had some far ranging personality facets to select from. But whatever she was doing, I'm just very glad it was captured on film.
I prefer not to say much about the plot of this film, because there are some nice surprises throughout and though I've checked the spoiler box for this comment because of the brief description of what happens to Thymian, I don't want to spoil the film's wonderful twists and turns for those who happen to read this.
Technically, the film is beautifully shot, and although it doesn't possess the dark atmosphere of "Pandora," it does have it's own distinctive look via locale, set design and some spectacular camera moves, particularly a wonderful shot that follows Thymian up a stairway. The secondary characters, particularly in the girls institution, are far more caricatured than need be, and the humor is overdone in spots, but none of that detracts from the unusually forward story being told. Like "Pandora," the film is ahead of its time. And although Pabst did not shoot the ending he wanted, I find the ending used one of the most satisfying things about the film.
See this film and fall head over heels for the girl in the black helmet.
"Diary" doesn't have the sure hand of Pabst's direction in "Pandora," but it does have a story and characters that are more easily accessible. And though I feel "Pandora" is one of the greatest films ever made, it took me a few viewings to recognize the scope of its originality. And Brooks' character Lulu, though fascinating and exquisitely performed, is somewhat impenetrable.
Thymian, the character Brooks plays in "Diary," is an innocent caught up in circumstance and the social mores of her time. The very nature of her character makes us care what happens to her. Without resorting to cloying sentimentality, Pabst manages to create a character in Thymian that gets under our skin emotionally, even when she succumbs to manipulation by others. (Big spoilers in next sentence, so skip to next paragraph if you haven't seen the film): After being raped, giving birth to an illegitimate child and sent away by her family to an institution for delinquent girls, then losing her baby and becoming a prostitute, Pabst keeps us rooting for her to succeed in life, however she chooses.
Pabst's effectiveness is due in no small part to Brooks' performance. Her detractors have suggested that she wasn't much of an actress, just a pretty face playing herself. Yet, all anyone has to do is see the two Pabst films back to back to realize what different characters Brooks created from two, in many ways, similar roles. I do not see an ounce of Lulu in Thymian. If Brooks was channeling just herself, she had some far ranging personality facets to select from. But whatever she was doing, I'm just very glad it was captured on film.
I prefer not to say much about the plot of this film, because there are some nice surprises throughout and though I've checked the spoiler box for this comment because of the brief description of what happens to Thymian, I don't want to spoil the film's wonderful twists and turns for those who happen to read this.
Technically, the film is beautifully shot, and although it doesn't possess the dark atmosphere of "Pandora," it does have it's own distinctive look via locale, set design and some spectacular camera moves, particularly a wonderful shot that follows Thymian up a stairway. The secondary characters, particularly in the girls institution, are far more caricatured than need be, and the humor is overdone in spots, but none of that detracts from the unusually forward story being told. Like "Pandora," the film is ahead of its time. And although Pabst did not shoot the ending he wanted, I find the ending used one of the most satisfying things about the film.
See this film and fall head over heels for the girl in the black helmet.