The Threepenny Opera

GW Pabst was a master director of German cinema, especially excelling at his direction of actresses and developing their acting skills (i.e. Louise Brooks being a primary example). Bertholt Brecht's play is a classic and have always hugely appreciated the music of Kurt Weill (i.e. 'Street Scene'). Lotte Lenya left a huge impression on me when introduced to her as one of the great Bond villains in 'From Russia With Love' and she was every bit as talented a singer. So there was so much potential for 'The Threepenny Opera' to work.

And it mostly does work, quite well. 'The Threepenny Opera' may not be for those that prefer their stage to film adaptations to be one hundred percent faithful, which they seldom are in general. The anti-capitalist content is toned down, which left Brecht incensed, and it is a shame that several of the songs are cut and the order of the songs intact is at times re-arranged. It is not one of Pabst's best films, it's no 'Diary of a Lost Girl' for example, but his not so masterful films still always had interest value and so does 'The Threepenny Opera'. A film most notable for its incredible visuals and Lenya.

'The Threepenny Opera' has a lot of great things. Visually, the film is an absolute triumph. Not just the very evocative and at times elaborate sets and the at times eerie lighting, but especially the absolutely superb cinematography (some of the very best of that year, the best of it making the jaw drop). While some of the placement was questionable, the songs included are wonderful. "Mack the Knife" is considered a classic for very good reason and one can understand how today it is a big band favourite.

Dialogue is emotionally complex and while wordy it doesn't ramble. The story may be toned down politically, but is mostly compelling and the bold mood of the play is intact. Complete with some greatly executed scenes. The ending still astounds. The message still resonates and while it makes its point it doesn't overdo it in my view. Pabst's direction at its best is masterly, especially visually. Lenya re-creates the role that she portrayed on stage to legendary effect and her performance is utterly bewitching, her major solo is unforgettably performed and staged. Rudolf Forster makes Mackie a hard to dislike rogue. Carola Neher is a charming Polly and Fritz Rasp is formidable as Peachum.

Not everything works though. There are pacing problems where the film does at times badly lag. A primary example being the wedding scene, which goes on for far too long and feels very drawn out. The slapstick is not particularly amusing this time and comes over as clownish and not always merging with the atmosphere.

Some of the story is slightly disorganised too and the re-ordering of the songs doesn't always come off. "The Cannon Song" for instance feels very out of place and makes very little sense being placed at that point in the drama.

Overall though, impressive but to be taken on its own terms. 7/10

This adaptation of Brecht/Weill's Musikspiel is considered by many a classic masterpiece. Classic it may be (and as such historically important), but a masterpiece it is not. I am not interested in the changes vis-a vis the play: recent research has found out that most changes were already proposed by Brecht himself and other research has found out that Brecht was not the writer at all, but Elisabeth Hauptmann. Nor am I interested in the fact that Weill's music is reduced and that not all songs are performed, which was unavoidable.

The point is that although there was real potential for a masterpiece (set designer, cast, director, cameraman etc.), Pabst never succeeds in making this adaptation into a real filmic adaptation. Scenes are presented in order, but never there is a feeling of a close and tightly held drama; the film is more or less subdivided. This may have been on purpose (considering the structure of the play), but for me it just does not work as film. It seems if no real choice was made between a documentation of the play or a truly filmic adaptation; what we are left with is something that lies in between, and that never comes alive. Are we seeing the result of all the (judicial) troubles director and writers had with Brecht and Weill? Or were the makers just too involved in making a masterpiece?

So, is this a mediocre or even bad picture? Certainly not. Individual scenes are fine due to sets and cast and the way in which Wagner and Pabst know how to use them (no room here to analyze this). But, on the other hand: do we really see or feel a menacing threat from the army of beggars? Do we really need Ernst Busch as the street singer?; do his scenes really add something? And are most songs not just registered as if they were performed on a stage? And is the editing not just adequate?

Today was my 5th or 6th viewing. I still cannot see why this film ever could be acclaimed a masterpiece.

G.W. Pabst's version of 'The 3penny Opera' is simply sublime with a formidable casting and a magnificent cast with: Ernst Busch as a street singer, Carola Neher, who died in a soviet prison, as Polly and Lotte Lenya as Jenny. The mass scenes (without the help of computer games) are nothing less than masterful. But, above all are the texts of Bertolt Brecht and the magical songs by Kurt Weill; just delicious stuff.

This eternal masterpiece doesn't paint a rosy picture of human affairs, with a city (pars pro toto – the world) in the hands of people with shark teeth, venal civil servants and a corrupt police force. Bertolt Brecht formulates in simple words the rules of the game, the basics of human society: first grub, then morals. If the primary conditions for human survival (food, safety) are not available, then there is absolutely no ground for any kind of morality. For Bertolt Brecht, in a 'free for all' society the poor, the vast majority of the population, can only survive by (organized) begging and stealing, by dirty works ('Missetat'). After fighting one another, the crime bosses find a far better solution for the consolidation of their power. They make a super deal, pool their resources and create a financial syndicate of criminals, in other words, a bank, with the former corrupt police chief as CEO. What an awesome prophetic idea! With brilliant theatrical histrionics and a perfect 'London' atmosphere, G.W. Pabst shot an ageless movie masterpiece based on an everlasting opera. A must see.

Great musicals always have great people working at every different level in a united way. The script, the songs, the actors, the camera-movements all must stand on their own while contributing to the musical proper. We have classic cases of this where all those involved went their separate ways and were never able to recreate that magic. Instead of this somewhat accidental result, we have here a carefully calculated masterpiece. It was recognised that this was an important social work, and there were a number of things that needed to happen in its execution. They needed Brecht's (a dramatist becoming increasingly fascinated with cinema) cooperation, they got it. They needed a capable expressionistic director, they got it. They needed creative writers to narrow the work down to a typical film length, they got them. They needed strong powerful actors to circumvent any possible lingering sentimentality, they got them as well. This was an age where film was becoming run by the studios, but in creative ways striving to create great art, and we have stunning works like this to prove it.

5 out of 5 - Essential

Sometimes, if I ever feel especially depressed at something going off in the world I like to trot this one out to make me take an even more jaundiced view of things. This surely would be no. 1 in the Top 100 Most Cynical Movies Ever, even after all these years (the simultaneous French version is not so earthy, a more flowery artiness coming out instead). For me, it's the best movie I've seen of Pabst's, most of his post-WW2 stuff has eluded me so far.

The Guild Of Thieves' leader gets married to the Guild of Beggars' leader's daughter, causing friction between the two highly organised and respected professions, but inertia in the police who are in the Thieves' power. Prostitution, aberration, bigamy, thievery, extortion, bribery, corruption (and complete cynically cheerful indifference to it all), you name it it's here - after all it is all that Man can do! Laconic-looking Ernst Busch's searing inter-ditties leave you with the distinct impression that someone was rather tired with the world! The savage sounding German words spew out, whilst reading the English subtitles is sometimes heavy going in digesting all of the conceptual opinions in time to digest the next. Would that Bobby Darin had got his tonsils round a few more of the extraordinary gossamer Brecht/Weill songs from this! Lotte Lenya sparkled doing her Pirate Jenny number, being just a part of my favourite bit in the idling whorehouse.

All of the people involved in 3G are "lost to sight", except to the handful of Artheads who occasionally hold cultural revivals of Weill, Brecht or Pabst. There was a memorable series of events in London in 2000 to mark the 50th anniversary of Weill's death, but 99.99% of the general public passed it by.

Soon we will all be lost to sight too, along with all of our fractious opinions and silly vices.