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Louise Brooks, Fritz Rasp, André Roanne, Josef Ravensky, Franziska Kinz ... see more see more... , Edith Meinhard , Vera Pawlowa , Arnold Korff , Sig Arno , Andrews Englemann , Kurt Gerron , Valeska Gert , Sylvia Torf , Michael von Newlinsky , Jaro Fuerth , Sibylle Schmitz , Josef Rovenský , Joseph Rovensky , Andrews Engelmann , Sybille Schmitz

German filmmaker G.W. Pabst and Hollywood expatriate Louise Brooks re-team after the success of Pandora's Box for the silent film Diary of a Lost Girl. On the day of her confirmation, innocent young T... read more read more...hymiane Henning (Brooks) is given a lockable diary as a present. She's distraught because the housekeeper Elisabeth (Sibylle Schmitz) is leaving under curious circumstances and turns up presumably dead. Her duties are taken over by the conniving Meta (Franziska Kinz), who accepts the advances of Thymiane's pharmacist father (Josef Ravensky). Trying to understand Elisabeth's fate, Thymiane agrees to meet her father's assistant, Meinert (Fritz Rasp). She passes out, he carries her up to her room, and by the next scene she has borne a child by him. Meta snoops in Thymiane's diary and finds out it was Meinert's baby, so she suggests they get married. Thymiane refuses, so they throw her in a creepy reformatory for fallen women and leave her baby with a midwife. While in the reformatory, she meets Erika (Edith Meinhard), with whom she eventually escapes. To escape from poverty and homelessness, the girls then become nominal prostitutes in a brothel and are "sexually liberated." ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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89% liked it

1,856 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

5 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 39 min.

Directed by: Georg Wilhelm Pabst, G.W. Pabst

Release Date: January 1, 1981

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DVD Release Date: November 13, 2001

Stats: 104 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (104)

  • ajv2688
    October 16, 2010
    ajv2688
    First of all, it's strange that Flixster says this movie is from 1981, it's really from 1929! Anyway, I highly recommend this movie, it's a has a great story, it's not dated at all, and it's very engaging. I really liked this movie.
  • NickEaViL
    December 2, 2009
    NickEaViL
    I watched this movie as part of my thanksgiving evening this year and this was the first Louise Brooks film I have watched. I was surprised at being surprised, not knowing what the next scene would involve.
    Very expressive and emotional, some of the scenes struck a nerve with me... read more. The scene with the staircase and coffin (will try to not give it away too much) was a pivotal moment for me, although I felt the score during this sequence was a bit off with the emotions being expressed.
    Also impressive was the sexual innuendo, like the 'orgasm' scene during the workout in the reformatory, or a dance sequence featuring two pairs of women's shoes.
    I was also amazed at the capacity Louise had of saying so much with the slightest gestures. She has the quality of filling the scenes with her mere presence. This movie has gained a special place in me, and I am looking forward to learning about the making of this movie, especially learning that a lot of the original scenes intended were cut out due to the censors.
  • columbiatch
    August 3, 2008
    columbiatch
    Louise Brooks gives a fine, understated performance, but otherwise this was pretty mediocre. It's one of the early examples of the young-woman-finding-her-identity type of film, in which Brooks is thrown out by her lecherous father who is seduced by the new housemaid. I found the... read more film too simplistic and unbelievable, not to mention didactic. Also, Maddin's Cowards Bend the Knee was clearly influenced by this.

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Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz
June 22, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's the brilliant performance by the radiantly beautiful Brooks that makes this otherwise forgettable soap opera story memorable. Full Review

Walter Chaw
April 19, 2005
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

The Hollywood ideal corrupted by the deleterious social effects of the Third Reich remains one of the most haunting synergies in silent film. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 29, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Thomas Delapa
August 25, 2004
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly

No review available.

Christopher Smith
December 6, 2002
Christopher Smith, Bangor Daily News (Maine)

No review available.

January 26, 2006
Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

Martyn Bamber
August 16, 2004
Martyn Bamber, Senses of Cinema

No review available.

Jeffrey M. Anderson
August 9, 2004
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Click to read the article Full Review

July 29, 2003
Film4

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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  • Louise Brooks starred in 'Diary of a Lost Girl', but who on earth directed it?  Answer »
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