Customer Reviews

Diary of a Lost Girl

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Black and white silent movie with English subtitles. Sound track relevant to the story. Original title "Tagebuch einer Verlorenen"

Thymiane (Louise Brooks) not aware of the relationship her father had with another of his housekeepers Elisabeth (Sybille Schmitz) and is confused as to why the housekeeper had to leave and intimately why the housekeeper committed suicide. The pharmacist Meinert (Fritz Rasp) downstairs is more than willing to show her what happens when one gets too friendly and doe so when Thymiane faints.

This results in an offspring. The father pays the pharmacist's debt in exchange for making an honest woman of Thymiane. However she reneges and holds out for love; naturally this is unacceptable so she and her diary are sent off to a correctional institute for lost girls. Her offspring is handed over to a midwife.

Will her father come to his senses or is he falling pray to his latest housekeeper Meta (Franziska Kinz?)

Will she break out of the oppressive institute or just learn evil ways?

Will her old friend Count Nicolas Osdorff (André Roanne) come to her rescue?

Or will he have problems of his own when he is out cast?

We find our selves sitting on the edge of our seats, kibitzing even if we saw the movie before.

We are reminded that with a little more love no one on this earth has to be lost.

Great quality picture dvd. A great movie for those for are afraid to venture into the silent category. The direction, the story, the acting done by Ms. Brooks is superb.

Mr. Pabst's movies need more recognition. When "Pandora's Box" on dvd?

Louise Brooks reminds me of the recent actress in Amelie. Not that they look alike, but because of their radiance, the tremendous impression they make on the viewer. Ms. Brooks's interpretation is so realistic it makes you feel you are really there in the room with her.

And she can act. Louise Brooks's restrained but affecting performance elevates what would have been to me a shamelessly sensational and sordid melodrama into moving and compelling entertainment. I am docking this half a star for the abrupt (albeit somewhat positive) ending, and some embarrassingly hammy (and creepy)overacting by several of the key supporting actors; in contrast, all of the supporting actresses did a fine job: notably the hausfrauses playing the former-housemaid-turned-"evil"-stepmother and the kindly brothel madame.

And Ms. Brooks, ah...she can even make the simple act of drinking liquer out of a glass look deliriously fetching and artlessly natural at the same time. I must say, after not being all that taken with oft cited past candidates for most lovely screen actresses of all time (including Gene Tierney, Rita Hayworth, and Hedy Lamarr), I think I have found the face that launched my thousand ships. But really, it's also a very good movie.:)

"Diary of a Lost Girl" (1929) shows us Louise Brooks at her best. It is the bittersweet tale of a young girl's loss of innocence. The new score by Joseph Turrin truly matches this sentimental film by G.W. Pabst , his second best known silent feature after "Pandora's Box" (1928). There are various close ups of Brooks which demonstrate that she was not only a talented actress, but a true vision of beauty. Her face is absolutely flawless. Buy this movie today on DVD, you will not regret it. The DVD also contains the eighteen minute movie short, " Windy Riley Goes to Hollywood", where one can hear Louise Brooks talk! This was directed by Roscoe " Fatty" Arbuckle under an assumed name.Arbuckle's life and career were devasted by a scandal in the early 1920's, he died not long after making this film short.
Also highly recommended is of course, "Pandora's Box" also starring the lovely Louise Brooks.

Louise Brooks, in the finest meaning of the word, does not act in this film. What this means is that when the emotions are true to life, Brooks' performance is absolutely perfect. But, whenever the film veers into melodrama, as when Brooks has to faint, it is clear that she thinks the scene is as ridiculous and overwrought as we do, and she either doesn't bother (the likely reason) or doesn't have the technique to do anything more than the minimum needed to get through the scene.

Fortunately, the movie is good enough that most of the scenes make Brooks look wonderful and her naturalness is uncanny.

As with other silent films with her, she looks and behaves like a modern woman who's been put in a time machine, back to an era where everyone else looks, and acts, very quaint

I enjoyed the DVD of "Diary of a Lost Girl", Louise Brooks' second collaboration with G.W. Pabst, although not as much as "Pandora's Box". It is not a sequel, however much this film may seem like one. This film is more sentimental, tragic, and less sexually charged than it's predecessor, and for that reason does not gain a higher rating from me (Pandora's Box being more riske`).

The film is in true black & white (no tinting on this version), and the score is a very suitable composition that is quite appropriate here. The Kino DVD is a fine piece of work and I recommend it to any fan of Brooks or the silent era.

I'm just baffled as to why no one will produce a Region 1 version of "Pandora's Box" on DVD, and give us Diary of a Lost Girl, (somewhat inferior in quality to Pandora's), instead. If only one Louise Brooks film should be transferred to DVD, Pandora's Box must be the first!

But Diary of a Lost Girl is still a good film, and has one or two surprises up its sleeve. I will recommend it on this feature if for no other reason: there aren't many films I can name that are quite like this and Pandora's Box; they are truly unique and quite unlike any other in the history of film.

I also recommend this DVD for the extra short-film "Windy Riley Goes Hollywood". Not because the short is any good, (it's actually pretty lousy), but because it was the first "talkie" by Louise Brooks. I was thrilled when I bought this DVD and finally realized that I would finally get to hear Louise speak as well as watch her act. She was a remarkable natural!

This film is pretty good in general. Louise Brooks really is versatile and talented. Too bad this film moves so darn slow! This film would have gotten a five if it moved faster and wasn't so tragic.

In the era of the silent cinema, no one ignited the screen like Louise Brooks. In the still shocking "Pandora's Box," and in the lurid, 1929 melodrama "DIARY OF A LOST GIRL,", the mysterious charisma and stunning beauty of Brooks are on sensational display. Brooks, the ultimate 20s flapper, plays idealistic and innocent Thymian, who's raped by her unscrupulous pharmacist father's scabrous assistant. She leaves a child behind, escapes a horrible reform school and ends up working in a brothel. The great G.W. Pabst, who directed Brooks in "Pandora" directs again with an invisible hand. This masterpiece of German Expressionism is about 10 minutes longer and has over 80 slightly different cuts than the 1990 English version released on video (Kino). "Diary of a Lost Girl" is an absolutely exquisite film of great emotional power. Close ups of Brooks defy description. She will take your breath away.

This new Kino DVD version of DIARY OF A LOST GIRL contains footage that has been added, re-edited, and even RE-SHOT, compared to Kino's 1990 VHS version.

I did a side-by-side comparison of the DVD and the 1990 VHS tape version and found that director G.W. Pabst had apparently shot two versions of some scenes -- one version being used on the 1990 VHS version, another on this DVD. Most of the differences are minute, such as actors standing on slightly different spots or posing or gesturing a little differently. For instance, at time 00:02:39 on the DVD, Thymian (Louise Brooks) is standing at the doorway with her arms bent. But in the 1990 VHS version, the same shot shows that her arms are straight. At time 00:03:43 of the DVD, Thymian bends forward (toward camera) to pick something up on the floor. In the 1990 VHS version, she bends sideways (to viewer's right) to pick it up. A few re-shot scenes, however, have more drastic differences, with the tone and mood of the scene altered considerably. At 00:04:50, Meinert raises his eyebrows and nods at Thymian, who returns a flirtatious smile. In the 1990 VHS version, however, Meinert only smiles softly, and Thymian's expression is more restrained. At 00:07:52 of the DVD, after Thymian sees what Meinert wrote in her diary, she turns her head slowly and stares incredulously at Meinert for a moment, then locks her diary. In the 1990 VHS version, she simply locks her diary and never looks at Meinert.

Kino emailed me a list of about 80 differences between the 1990 VHS version (which they call the "English version") and the new DVD version (which they call the "German version"). The list reveals there are actually some scenes on the 1990 VHS version that are not on this DVD. Regarding the re-shot scenes, the list is apparently not inclusive, for I've personally noticed a lot more re-shot footage on the DVD. For instance, the sequence in which Elizabeth the housekeeper begs Mr. Henning to let her stay but finally she has to leave is composed entirely of re-shot footage. (Note how amazing it is that these actors were able to give the same great performances twice! But since the two versions are nearly identical, one wonders why Pabst would bother re-shooting at all.)

And I haven't begun to mention the newly added footage -- scenes not on the 1990 VHS version at all, but on this DVD. The new scenes are sprinkled throughout the DVD, resulting in about 9 minutes of material, some of which quite startling. One shows the guard in the reformatory, after catching Erika putting on her makeup, uses her lipstick to write on his note book, "Punish Erika"; then he draws a heart shape next to it, revealing to us what he exactly means by "punish". Another rather risque scene shows Thymian in the brothel performs some gymnastics in a swimsuit in front of her clients.

The new DVD, which Kino calls the "German version", still uses English title cards. Their wordings and placements have been significantly changed compared to the 1990 VHS version. The differences in placements, of course, have resulted in the film being edited differently. Some title cards now have more explicit, even risque, wordings. One reads, "So you have had your way with the housekeeper too," alluding to the unspoken relation between Mr. Henning and Elizabeth. In the scene where Meinert tries to seduce Thymian, the title card shows him saying, "I'll tell you all about Elizabeth tonight, Thymian. BIG Thymian." The DVD has one incorrect title card. It shows what Meinert wrote in Thymian's diary to be "Meet me 11:30 tonight." The time should read 10:30, as indicated by a later shot of a clock. The 1990 VHS version does have the correct time on the title card.

I prefer the score used on the 1990 VHS version. The violin solo used on the VHS version brings out the feelings of loneliness and despair more effectively than the more elaborate orchestration used on the DVD. The old score is not included on this DVD.

The video transfer of the DVD came from new source material and it looks much less battered, sharper, more detailed, and better contrasted than that of the 1990 VHS version. Still, the improved picture of the DVD is nowhere near the sparkling image quality of, say, the Criterion DVD version of HAXAN or THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC.

The DVD also includes a rarely-seen sound film that stars Brooks, titled WINDY WILEY GOES HOLLYWOOD. The sound era was believed to have ended Brooks' acting career. But in this film, her voice sounds just fine to me. The video transfer of this 18-minute 1930 comedy film has a heavily-battered picture transfer and a very hissy soundtrack (not many prints of this film exist, we are told). And there are no subtitles or closed captioning. But all the dialogs register pretty clearly. This short film is available only on the DVD version, not on the 2001 VHS version (which is not to be confused with the out-of-print 1990 VHS version that I referred to throughout this review).

WOW!!! I never in my wildest dreams thought this silent film classic starring Louise Brooks was coming to DVD! I thought for sure Pandora's Box (Ms. Brooks' most famous film) would come first. And furthermore, I thought Criterion would be the company to release the film, but it looks like Kino's will have the honor. That's not bad, either - Kino's has a LOT of good foreign/silent/independent films, and I've always liked their VCR tapes, so I'm looking forward eagerly to Diary of a Lost Girl.

For those not in the know, Louise Brooks was the ultimate flapper girl of the 1920s. She was probably more famous for her haircut, beauty, and lifestyle than her films. But her film legacy is firmly established by two German films she made after leaving Hollywood briefly - Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, both by G.W. Pabst (one of the legendary silent film directors). Both films, if you can find them, are absolute classics. The German expressionist style has rarely been more beautifully captured than in Pandora's Box (Hitchcock used this style too in a lot of his early black/white films). And I was lucky enough to find a beat-up VHS copy of Diary. If you like silent films, you can't go wrong with this film either! The imagery is stunning, Louise Brooks looks gorgeous and gives a moving performance a young lady who, having lost her virtue, is consequently shunned by society and has to learn to care for herself. I don't like to give away plots, so that's all I'll say, but I am looking forward to owning this film on DVD! Highly recommended!