Kino

Asphalt

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Release Date: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Country of Release: USA
MSRP: $14.95

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Directed by: Joe May

Featuring: Albert Steinrück, Else Heller, Gustav Fröhlich, Betty Amann, Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Hans Albers, Arthur Duarte, Paul Hörbiger, Trude Lieske, Karl Platen, Rosa Valetti, Hermann Vallentin, Kurt Vespermann

From its elaborate and stylish opening scenes, Asphalt immediately establishes itself as a startling cinematic achievement of Weimar cinema. Gustav Frölich, best known as the young protagonist of Metropolis, stars as a strait-laced traffic cop who has the simple task of escorting a diamond thief to the police station. However, Holk’s routine assignment becomes complicated when he discovers the criminal in his custody: the exotic and beautiful Else (Betty Amann). Working alongside cinematographer Günther Rittau (The Blue Angel), director Joe May (The Indian Tomb) takes a simple melodrama and transforms it into a masterwork, with a brooding visual style, nuanced performances, and psychological complexity.

Year: 1929
Time: 94 min.