Abwege (1928)
Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Film Review

In common with several of G.W. Pabst's films, Abwege caused considerable controversy when it was first released in Germany, not least because of Brigitte Helm's daringly realistic portrayal of a sexually frustrated bourgeois wife. (Helm is now most famous for her role as the robot Maria in Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927).) The film is unusual for two reasons.  First, the feelings of its protagonists are explored with unprecedented psychological depth. Notice how effectively their intense inner moods are contrasted with the superficial world in which they live - throughout, there is a fierce conflict between desire and security, freedom and stability.  Second, Pabst employs what we would now term a voyeuristic form of photography, which makes the spectator feel guilty about and/or derive a salacious thrill from peeping into the lives of the characters. This approach helps to accentuate the sense of conflict in Irene's mind, her inability to reconcile the inner and outer worlds, her desire for freedom with the staid conventions of her class.

Abwege may not have the dramatic impact and emotional intensity of some of Pabst's other films of this period (notably Die Freudlose Gasse (1925) and Pandora's Box (1929), which benefited from the star appeal of Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks respectively), but it still has much in its favour.  Helm's remarkably vivid portrayal of a woman tortured by her natural urges, a set-piece scene in a night club which shows so much of the moral decay of German society in the twilight years of the Weimar Republic, and some astonishingly elegant photography - these are just some of the qualities that make the film so memorable. The reason why this film is somewhat less well-known than Pabst's other work is because one reel of the original film was lost.  Abwege has been recently restored to its former glory, from a surviving poor quality French print.

Film Synopsis

Thomas Beck may be a successful lawyer but he is also a chronic workaholic and rarely does he find the time to offer his wife Irene the tenderness she pines for.  Irene looks elsewhere for affection and believes she finds it in a handsome painter, Walter Frank.  When he realises what is happening, Beck tries to put an end to his wife's budding relationship with the young artist, but she retaliates by slipping away from home one night and visiting a sordid Berlin nightclub.   Under the intoxicating influence of drugs and hard liquor, Irene falls for the earthy charms of the boxer Sam Tayler.  This new life of unbridled freedom appeals so strongly to Irene that she knows she can never return to her former existence and play the part of the dutiful wife...