Diary of a Lost Girl (1929, Germany)

My cousin and I were talking about how we both wanted to see a Louise Brooks movie, so we ended up watching this one together. It was truly fascinating how risqué a pre-Hays code film could be. There was a man with many mistresses, a young girl seduced by an older man, out of wedlock pregnancy and subsequent adoption, a girls' reformatory with questionable ownership, prostitution... I mean, wow. Melodrama!

For the most part, the film was easy to follow, though some parts I had to look up later to see what exactly had happened. I don't know how much of that was my not being used to watching silent film and how much was a lack of clarity on the part of the filmmaker. Still, as I said it was mostly understandable, and rather engaging as well. It was a bit too melodramatic for my taste, but it was clearly a product of the times. I supposed to main reason to watch it today (or in 1929 for that matter) is to soak in the performance of Louise Brooks. Her big innocent eyes just capture the viewer. It's hard to tear yourself away.

Just fascinating!

Rating: 3.5

Love & Rage (1998, Ireland)

I haven't seen many Irish films, but I've liked the ones I've seen. Of course, this one I watched because it stars Daniel Craig.

It's based on a true story. From what I can tell online, it's very, very loosely based. The long and short of it is that an aristocratic widow running her own estate took on an inexperienced, peasant estate agent. They fall in love, have an affair, he gets violent and things get tense. In the historical case, all I can find out says that he raped her, beat her, left her for dead. He fled Ireland, was hailed as a hero by Teddy Roosevelt (I think it was) for something unrelated, and wasn't tried in Ireland until years later.

So in other words, this story is screaming for a melodramatic interpretation. And the filmmakers did not disappoint in that regard. Personally, I thought it was just too over the top. And even the normally brilliant Daniel Craig laid it on too thick. I guess that's what they were going for. I don't think I'd recommend it at all.

Rating: 2.5