The Devious Path

Brigitte Helm gives a fascinating performance in this incisive portrait of bourgeois languor. A wife, bored with her husband (Gustav Diessl) and safe existence, is drawn to a painter and his bohemian milieu. But her fantasies of an alternative life turn against her in the most unrelenting way, as G. W. Pabst continues his fascination with female psychology that would culminate in Pandora’s Box. Helm’s “curious, fascinating power has never been exploited with such skill,” wrote film critic Paul Rotha. Previously neglected by Pabst scholars, because it was not in keeping with the director’s humanist image, this cool, understated film may be his most modern.