The Other Eye

This breakthrough filmessay explores the strange case of G.W.Pabst, the Austrian Film Director who was considered a giant of early cinema before his reputation went behind a cloud. The film takes us through his work with Garbo and Louise Brooks, and his making of such classics as "Pandora's Box", "The Joyless Street", and "The Threepenny Opera". But this is no ordinary film tribute. For "The Other Eye", Johanna Heer and Werner Schmiedel, have evolved a rich visual language new to the documentary field, using a elaborate color structure that reflects not only various moods but different periods of time. The film's jazzy style and sophisticated narration probes unflinchingly the controversy surrounding Pabst: What possessed this liberal, cosmopolitan filmmaker to return to Austria in 1939 and direct movies for the Third Reich?