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Review - Asphalt - 1929

Story - Joe May's sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to its characters, and the ability to take a simple and essentially melodramatic story and turn it into something more complex and inherently cinematic.

Cast - Albert Steinrück, Else Heller, Gustav Fröhlich, Betty Amann

Crew - Joe May (Director/Writer), Hans Székely (Writer), Rolf E. Vanloo (Writer)

Runtime - 94 minutes

         

When you start watching Asphalt you are immediately greeted with an amazing sequence, full of imagery related to the Asphalt, cars, pedestrians, and cops, everything is so chaotic and beautiful. I love this about silent movies, incredible editing and shots, many of which are hard to recreate with modern equipment if you want to retain that old atmosphere. It possesses few intertitles, I think this movie could have been made without them, it is that compelling and focused. 

A nice thing about the story is that, while many silent films from Germany try to focus on fantasy or spirits, this one is more grounded in reality, it is a crime and love story.

Gustav Fröhlich's acting is sublime, his facial expressions convey such emotion that I felt really connected with him, it is weird for me to feel this way about a silent actor. 
Betty Amann is such a beautiful actress, she is the movie's spotlight, and everything revolves around her. Her facial expressions are so soft and tender but she is also rude and will try to do everything she can to not go to prison (or will she?). The scene where her character Else Kramer battles Gustav's character Albert Holk is so energetic and has so much sensuality. She wraps around his body preventing him from escaping and casting a spell on him with a glorious kiss. I want to add something personal, I love 1920s actresses, most of them have a body that is feminine but also display some masculine features, as a bisexual man myself I find them so beautiful, and makes me enjoy the movies more.

Asphalt by Joe May is an incredible German silent movie, filled with drama, great directing and editing, and incredible acting by Gustav Fröhlich and Betty Amann. With a runtime of one hour and 34 minutes captivates you more than most superhero movies made in 2023. 

         

Final Score -4.0/5

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