Product Details

• Actors: Gustav Fröhlich, Albert Steinrück, Betty Amann, Else Heller, Hans Adalbert Schlettow
• Directors: Joe May
• Writers: Joe May, Hans Székely, Rolf E. Vanloo
• Producers: Erich Pommer, Max Pfeiffer
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Silent, NTSC
• Language: German
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Kino Video
• DVD Release Date: July 18, 2006
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FS9FLM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,082 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Asphalt" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

From its amazing opening sequence of human and vehicular traffic sweeping through a nighttime cityscape entirely created inside the Ufa film factory, Asphalt marks a late addition to the eye-catching, mind-bending artistry of the German Expressionist cinema of the '20s. Released in March 1929, when silents were on the way out, until recently it was just a title, and the source of a few grabby stills, in the film history books. In this most complete restoration yet, it stands as the ultimate "street film," a genre prized for bravura artifice and potent allegory. In such urban symphonies, the cinema was simultaneously defining and reimagining the essence of modernity in images both hypnotically dark and ablaze with shattered light.

The story is a simple one, but told with psychological subtlety and strikingly fluid camerawork and editing. A young cop (Gustav Fröhlich, the hero of Metropolis) with rectitude in his veins apprehends a sneak thief (Betty Amann) in the act of stealing a diamond, then fails to turn her in. There's a gratifying mutuality to their seduction; although the lady's tiger-like leap upon her captor is astonishingly feral, she's soon as vulnerable and perplexed in their relationship as he is. A subplot involving her longtime lover, a master criminal (Hans Adelbert von Schlettow), eventually intersects with their love affair. Up to the very end--which somewhat anticipates Robert Bresson's Pickpocket--we can't be sure who's going to be sacrificed to save whom.

Director Joe May was no auteur on the order of Fritz Lang or F.W. Murnau; it's hard to locate an artistic personality in his movie. But he and cinematographer Günther Rittau had a state-of-the-art camera dolly to play with, making the German ideal of "the unfettered camera" a freewheeling reality. Amann is beguiling as a Louise Brooks knockoff, an ambulatory white fur under a cloche hat who evolves into a dark, hieratic figure of Fate. --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

ASPHALT - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Romantic Expression, March 31, 2008

By 

Bobby Underwood "starlighthotel" (Manly NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Asphalt (DVD)

This stylish and sophisticated silent film coming just before sound has a sexy and romantic glow that rises above its melodramatic origins and ultimately touches the viewer's heart. German director Joe May, who would eventually gravitate to Hollywood and make some memorable "B" pictures, shows both flair and tenderness for subject matter in this story of a beautiful girl so long fallen that love might not be within her grasp.

Set designer Erich Kettelhut and cinematographer Gunther Tittau give a rich and opulent look to the simple storyline which proved too risque for some and was banned. No original negative is known to exist but this print discovered in Russia is probably as close to how it first appeared as we are likely to ever see. Viewed today, of course, it seems quite tame. Whether that is due to a more sophisticated understanding of matters pertaining to love and lust or just a benchmark of how far we ourselves have fallen depends on your point of view.

Beautiful thief Else Kramer (Betty Amann) uses her feminine charms and gracefully curved assets to steal. When she is finally caught, it is up to young street cop Holk (Gustav Frohlich) to escort her to justice. But the young man who still lives with his mother and father, who is also the Chief of Police, will prove no match for the game Else brings to the table. She cries and and pleads and implores on the short journey to the station, and once he gives in and allows her to make a stop at 11 Kirchstass, she overwhelms him and he falls in love.

Like all men who've just been with a woman, all he can think of across the gulf which separates them is his longing to be with her again. Though it should have been only a ploy for the worldly Else, May shows little moments which give us an inkling that Else may have a heart after all. When she affectionately runs her fingers over his papers then mails them back to Gustav with a gift, he storms back to 11 Kirchstass in anger. Once she sees how much she has hurt young Holk, that part of her heart which has remained untouched by her jaded morality comes to life again.

But danger is moving closer, as her tawdry entanglements include a partner. It will bring about a violent confrontation and a moment of decision for Else, who must decide if it is too late for redemption. Amann is truly wonderful in those final moments, wondering whether love will be lost forever. Tenderness rises above melodrama in this beautifully produced and directed silent from Germany. A must see for silent film buffs.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb silent film, November 7, 2007

By 

Jmark2001 (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Asphalt (DVD)

I collect silent films and I thought that I had seen all of the films that were worth seeing. I was wrong. Here is a superb 1929 German film that was made at the height of silent cinema's expressiveness. If this film had been made with sound, its power would have been severely diminshed. Close-ups and few title cards explain all you need to know about the plot and underlying motivations of the characters. I won't spoil the ending so I will only give a bit of the plot. A young, honorable police officer is seduced by a female thief into neglecting to do his duty. His shame and the powerful emotions that his dereliction of duty unleashes in both the policeman and the thief propel the rest of the movie to its conclusion. This is a VERY German film. Some themes occur over and over in the German films of the twenties: the downfall of those who do not obey authority and the law, the ability of women to destroy externally powerful men, the stereotyped image of destroyed men on their knees before women as if they were boys (This almost never happens in American films but it is always happening in German films), the need for law and order, etc. This is a very good print with most of the film in pristine condition. A wonderful morality tale handled with tenderness, intelligence, and silent film master craftsmanship.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Asphalt is a treasure!, November 2, 2006

By 

M. FERGUSON - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Asphalt (DVD)

Anyone interested in Film Noir and German Expressionist film should find a lot to treasure in ASPHALT. The visual style is stunning and the smoldering beauty of Betty Amann as Else the thief is memorable. This film is an experience...an experience that many would appreciated.