THE JOYLESS STREET

Showings

Castro Theatre Sat, Jul 20, 2013 8:30 PM
Accompanied by the Matti Bye Ensemble

Description

Germany, 1925, Director G.W. Pabst

Cast
Asta Nielsen, Greta Garbo, Gräfin, Agnes Esterhazy, Werner Krauß, Henry Stuart, Einar Hanson, Grigori Chmara

General $20 / Member $18

Not only one of the most important films of Weimar-era Germany, The Joyless Street is also one of the most spectacular censorship cases of the era. The story from the inflationary period in Vienna in the years immediately after World War I was considered too much of a provocation with its juxtaposition of haves and have nots—that and its frank sexuality. Pabst’s film was twice shortened by the German censors and other countries made cuts or outright banned the film. This painstaking restoration supervised by Stefan Drössler has reconstructed the film as close as possible to Pabst’s intention. It is a magnificent achievement. (TRT: 150 mins.)