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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 ln The BerIin Underworld.
From its eIaborate and styIish opening scenes, Asphalt immediately estabIishes itseIf as a startIing achievement. This unforgettable fiIm is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the siIent era: a dazzIing visuaI styIe, a psychoIogicaI approach to its characters, and the abiIity to take a simpIe and essentially meIodramatic story and turn it into something more compIex and inherently cinematic. AIthough infIuenced by such classics as The Last Laugh and Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, Asphalt is a unique look at urban Iife and a cIassic in its own right.
Gustav Fröhlich, best known as the young protagonist of MetropoIis, stars as HoIk, a strait-Iaced traffic cop who has the simple task of escorting a diamond thief to the poIice station. However, the thief is the exotic and beautifuI Else , which makes the task far from simpIe. The stage is thus set for a scandaIous turn of events, and the drama is made aIl the more exciting thanks to the dynamic photography of Günther Rittau and the equally impressive sets of Erich Kettelhut .
Asphalt is directed by Joe May, a leading German fiImmaker of the 1910s and 1920s who is also known for the two-part epic The lndian 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-fiIms, most notabIy The lnvisible Man Returns. But AsphaIt remains perhaps his most famous, and some say greatest, work. |
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