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Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star

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Kenneth Anger once described Louise Brooks as "one of the loveliest visions ever to grace a screen", and his description should be taken as gospel. Louise was a shimmering beauty, but she was more than that: she was an opinionated, intelligent, thoughtful human being who knew that Hollywood breeds crap and who believed in film as art. . .positions she ultimately couldn't reconcile. Who couldn't love Lulu?

Louise Brooks is one of the most stunning presences to ever grace the screen. She had inimitable beauty and uncanny movement. Langlois was justified in saying, "There is no Garbo. There is no Dietrich. There is only Brooks" It is impossible to watch her and not be taken by so fluid an actress.
Yet there is still more to this woman. She was a brilliant writer. An even better writer than actress. The style is clipped, almost curt, with a real sense of place. Louise Brooks was a woman with a long memory, a fierce independent streak, and a poison pen.
A cult has grown up around her, and shows its fruits in this anthology. Two of her essays are included which talk about her technique as well as her origins. The other essays are mostly French, being that she became synonymous with her character "LouLou" (Pandora's Box release title in France). It's fairly easy to believe that she inspired such poetry and fevered evaluations her eroticism. The works collected discuss her charisma, innate intelligence, how she compares against the real LouLou. The reader will even be treated to how she inspired not one, but two, comic strips.
Overall, this collection deserves to be read. Louise Brooks is still a fringe figure. Her acting and writing do not deserve to be so. Peruse this collection to discover what it was like to come in on films during their most early and exciting years. All this from a woman who could have quite literally become the most popular actress in the world, but gave it all up to return to dance and literature. Typical LouLou-- always leaving them wanting more.

A good companion to the movie Pandora's Box