Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts

Monday, November 2, 2020

New Louise Brooks novel released in Switzerland

French writer Daniel Bernard emailed me to let me know about his new novel, Un dernier Charleston, Louise (One last Charleston, Louise), which has just been published in France Switzerland by Editions Lemart. Here is the front and back cover.


And here is something the author sent me about the book:

"The novel begins in 1957 at Idlewild Airport in New-York. Two women meet as they have accompanied someone to the plane going to Europe. Suddenly, they begin to talk to one another. “I’m Louise, says a brunette, the Louise Brooks!” Angela, the other woman answers: “I’m Angela, please to meet you!”

Then begins this imaginary story about the well-known star, Louise Brooks, and diverse characters: Angela, who is a German immigrant, Helmut, a former assistant to Pabst, the director of Pandora’s Box, and perhaps a lover, and a few others.

Through chapters that are written a bit like film scripts, with a lot of dialogues, we go back to 1928, as Louise was in Berlin, for the shooting of her famous one and only masterpiece, Pandora’s Box, by Pabst, to 1937, as Angela meets Leni Riefenstahl in Minister Speer’s office, in the 50’s in Paris, when Henri Langlois calls Louise back to Europe discovering the fallen and forgotten star, and many other situations.

The plot mixes true events and fully delusive moments that attempt to depict Louise’s personality, if she ever would act that way, with a tender and gentle look. Illusion, images, life, sexuality and the German period of the late 20’s, that Louise had just seen in Berlin are the background, and New York.

The novel contains a great quantity of dialogue, concerning a star of the silent movies, which is stunning. You read it as if you were a witness, hidden somewhere in the scenes surrounding the actors of he novel. At times, hints on the story of cinema art, that has changed the world until now, tells you details and/or facts that a few are aware of. In the background, a drama, well described, in a parallel montage effect, which is a justification if not an explanation of the whole plot: there is no witness of this story written by a true connoisseur."


Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Major Louise Brooks Retrospective in Zurich, Switzerland Oct 5 - Nov 18, 2020

FilmPodium has announced the dates for its rescheduled Louise Brooks retrospective. The 15 film series, originally set to take place earlier this year but cancelled due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, is now set to take place October 5 through November 18, 2020. It looks to be a must attend event for any Louise Brooks fan or silent movie buff or film scholar in the region. FilmPodium is located in Zurich, Switzerland. For more information on the series, including informative program notes and the times and dates of each screening, visit HERE.


I have known about this event since it was in the planning stages, and have exchanged emails with Filmpodium offering suggestions. I am especially pleased the series will include the surviving fragment of Now We're in the Air, whose preservation I had a small hand in helping with. (You'll find my name in the credits, as well as in the credits at the end of Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu.) Once considered lost, Now We're in the Air has not been shown in Switzerland since the late 1920s! I don't know how long it is, but as well it must be decades since films like The Show Off, Love Em and Leave Em, or even God's Gift to Women were screened in Switzerland. More bold choices. And too, I don't know of any other series or retrospective which has shown both the silent and sound versions of Prix de Beaute back to back! That is a bold programming; also a fresh choice was showing a film in homage to Brooks, The Chaperone. The films in the series include:

It's the Old Army Game (1926) with Now We're in the Air (1927)

The Show Off (1926)

Love Em and Leave Em (1926)

A Girl in Every Port (1928)

Beggars of Life (1928)

Die Buchse der Pandora (1929)

The Canary Murder Case (1929)

Tagebuch einer Verlonenen (1929)

Prix de Beaute (1930) both the silent and sound versions

God's Gift to Women (1930)

Overland Stage Raiders (1938) with Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu (1998) documentary

The Chaperone (2018)

Most of the films will only be shown once, though a few will be shown on multiple occasions. All of the silent films will feature live musical accompaniment, which will feature acclaimed UK silent film accompaniest Neil Brand, friend to the Louise Brooks Society Stephen Horne, Martin Christ, André Desponds, Ephrem Lüchinger, Samuel Messerli and Neal Sugarman. Notes for the series were penned by Elisabeth Bronfen, who described Brooks as an icon of the Roaring Twenties, noting that "Her natural acting style was decades ahead of her time, her appeal remains immortal."

Last year, the Melbourne Cinémathèque in Melbourne, Australia put on a major film retrospective along similar lines titled "Enduring Modernity: The Transcontinental Career of Louise Brooks". Something must be in the air! 

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Louise Brooks retrospective in Switzerland postponed

A major Louise Brooks film retrospective - originally set to run March 30th through May 15 in Zurich, Switzerland - has been postponed due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Organized by Filmpodium in collaboration with Stadt Zurich and Cinematheque Suisse, the 15 film event is now set to run October 5 through November 15, 2020. The pandemic has hit Europe hard. And just yesterday, Germany cancelled its annual Octoberfest celebrations, which take place in September. So, keep your fingers crossed that this significant retrospective will take place as now rescheduled. More information may be found HERE.


I have been aware of this event for some time now, as I had been emailing back and forth with the director of FilmPodium earlier this year, exchanging information and images, helping source films, etc... The Louise Brooks Society is credited in the back of the program (pictured above) which will accompany the retrospective. BTW, the illustrated program including Elisabeth Bronfen's program essay, can be viewed online on the Issuu website. Pictured below is part of the poster which was displayed around Geneva, including on the local trams.


A statement from FilmPodium about the retrospective and its postponement reads: "Das Coronavirus hat Louise Brooks nicht aufgehoben, nur aufgeschoben: Im Herbst kommt dann doch noch die Filmreihe zu dem schönen Plakat, das in Zürich prangt.

Mit ihrem Bob wurde Louise Brooks (1906–1985) zur Ikone der Roaring Twenties; als Schauspielerin war sie ihrer Zeit voraus. Hollywood setzte die ausgebildete Tänzerin ab 1925 vor allem in Komödien ein, aber Howard Hawks machte sie 1928 in A Girl in Every Port zum kühlen Vamp und William A. Wellman entdeckte in Beggars of Life Brooksʼ Fähigkeiten im ernsten Fach. Erst in Europa entstanden ihre legendärsten Filme: G. W. Pabst besetzte sie als verführerische Lulu in Die Büchse der Pandora (1928) und als unterdrückten Freigeist in Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1929); in Prix de beauté (1930) von Augusto Genina spielte Brooks ihre letzte Hauptrolle und mit 32 Jahren beendete sie ihre Karriere."

A view inside the FilmPodium theatre

Along with the above mentioned films, the retrospective is also set to include the surviving fragment of Now We're in the Air (1927), Its the Old Army Game (1926), The Show Off (1926), Love Em and Leave Em (1926), The Canary Murder Case (1929), God's Gift to Women (1931) and Overland Stage Raiders (1938). Also on the schedule is the outstanding documentary Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu (1998), and the recent feature The Chaperone (2018), which will be having its Swiss premiere.

A view outside the FilmPodium theatre

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Diary of a Lost Girl tonight on Swiss TV

Diary of a Lost Girl, the classic 1929 German silent film starring Louise Brooks, will be shown tonight on Swiss television. That's according to this webpage. The film gets four stars out of five.

Cineasten-Tipp

Tagebuch einer Verlorenen

Diary of a Lost Girl
Stummfilm, Deutschland 1929, Regie: Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Buch: Rudolf Leonhardt, Kamera: Sepp Allgeier. Autor: Roman von Margarete Böhme. Musik: Hans Jönsson, Produzent: Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Mit: Louise Brooks, Vera Pawlowa, Franziska Kinz, Fritz Rasp, André Roanne, Josef Rovenský, Arnold Korff, Andrews Engelmann, Valeska Gert, Edith Meinhard, Sybille Schmitz, Sig Arno, Kurt Gerron, Hedwig Schlichter, Hans Casparius, Jaro Fürth, Emmy Wyda, Marfa Kassatskaya, Sylvia Torf, Michael von Newlinsky.

Thymian (Louise Brooks) ist nicht gerade vom Glück verfolgt ...
¿T?
Die junge Apotheker-Tochter Thymian wird von dem Gehilfen ihres Vaters verführt, vergewaltigt und nach der Geburt ihres unehelichen Kindes von der Familie in ein Heim für "gefallene Mädchen" gesteckt. Dort leidet sie, wie die anderen Mädchen, unter dem sadistischen Regiment des Vorsteher-Paares. Mit Hilfe des jungen Grafen Osdorff gelingt ihr schließlich die Flucht. Doch ihr Kind ist verstorben und so landet die mittellose Thymian in einem großstädtischen Edel-Bordell. Mit ehrlicher, wenn auch der gesellschaftlich nicht akzeptierter Arbeit als Prostituierte will sie sich selbst aus ihrer misslichen Lage befreien. Als ihr Vater stirbt, erhält Thymian von ihrem Vergewaltiger, der die Apotheke erstanden hat, eine hohe Abfindung, da sie als Alleinerbin eingesetzt war. Das ruft Graf Osdorff auf den Plan, der die vermögende Thymian heiratet. Doch die hat ihr Geld längst verschenkt … (- 1.30 Uhr) 

 Der aus dem böhmischen Raudnitz (heute Roudnice nad Labem, Tschechien) stammende Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1885–1967) gilt als einer der größten deutschen Regisseure der Stummfilmzeit, bis heute unvergessen sind Meisterwerke wie "Die freudlose Gasse", "Geheimnisse einer Seele" oder "Die Dreigroschenoper". Nach dem 1905 erstmals erschienenen, gleichnamigen Roman von Margarete Böhme - seinerzeit ein Bestseller - inszenierte Pabst nach seinem Kassenerfolg mit "Die Büchse der Pandora" dieses Stummfilmdrama erneut mit der wunderbaren US-Schauspielerin Louise Brooks, die in der Rolle der jungen Thymian glänzt, die sich gegen alle Widrigkeiten des Lebens behauptet. "Tagebuch einer Verlorenen" gilt als einer der am meisten zensierten Filme der Weimarer Zeit, denn ursprünglich hatte Pabst der Berliner Filmprüfstelle 3132 Meter vorlegt, doch das Werk wurde mit Jugendverbot belegt und zunächst auf 2863 verkürzt, 1930 schnitt Hans H. Zerlett, der unter den Nationalsozialisten 25 Filme drehte, den Film wegen "entsittlichender Wirkung" auf 2001 Meter zusammen. Besonders die Internats- und Bordellszenen waren der Zensur zum Opfer gefallen, konnten aber in einer aufwändigen Rekonstruktion durch das Deutsche Filminstitut - DIF in Zusammenarbeit mit der Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung fast komplett wieder hergestellt werden. Heute liegt "Tagebuch einer Verlorenen" wieder in einer Länge von 2980 Metern vor, allerdings fehlen gegenüber der Originallaufzeit immer noch rund sechs Minuten.
Foto: ARD/Degeto

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Louise Brooks creamer top from Switzerland

This piece of contemporary Louise Brooks ephemera is currently for sale on eBay. This particular item shows up occasionally. I have one which I purchased a few years back.


According to the seller, this creamer top was issued in Switzerland by Floralp. This is the foil top from the small plastic milk / cream pots used in restaurants. This pull-tab top depicts the film star Louise Brooks. The reverse side of the top carries the name of her film Pandora's Box. This top measures approx. 2.0 inches by 1.7 inches.
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