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Lulu
She was the laughing girl with the black helmet of hair and the sexy bangs. The new novel Lulu finds film star Louise Brooks in 1928 Berlin playing the role of her life a childlike woman named Lulu, whose sexual desires destroy her, and destroy the men in her life as well. Actress and character became joyfully, hopelessly enmeshed in work that blends fiction with nonfiction. Her volatile relationship with her director is at the center of the book as she grapples with trying to make sense of her life. In life, Louise Brooks was rarely able to balance these elements a problem hardly unique to her time. Brilliant people with enormous promise still often soar brightly, then crash and burn. It came too little, and far too late, when Henri Langlois of the Cinémathèque Française declared decades later, There is no Garbo! There is no Dietrich! There is only Louise Brooks!
230 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 24, 2017
This has been a difficult one to rate. I look back over my other 5-Star ratings and the style of writing has been exceptional ... sometimes even transporting. Although very appropriate to the subject, that wasn’t the case here. It is also a fictionalized account of real occurrences, taking liberties with some events and a lot of dialogue. In general, I'm not a fan of that.
The simple truth is that I couldn’t wait for my next reading session. While reading, I was fully engrossed in the narrative. And although that I disagree with a few choices made by the writer, I did feel that my understanding of Louise Brooks increased when I'd reached the conclusion. In short, this was a joy for me to read and I was very sorry to see it end.
The central tale recounts the emotional journey of Louise Brooks as she leaves Paramount Pictures and the Hollywood film factory to travel to Berlin at the invitation of Director, G. W. Pabst. There, she will make her most famous film ... and the one that many consider to be he best ... PANDORA’S BOX. It is a collaboration that will go down in the history of cinema.
Louise Brooks was an enigma. She had a naturalistic style of acting, almost reacting, to what was happening around her. Pabst guided that style throughout the entire production, not telling Louise what to do, but tapping into the emotional triggers that manifested into an incredible performance. Louise did not think of herself as a capable actress because she was not technique-driven, and those insecurities were fed upon by many of her co-performers who resented an unstructured American creating “their” iconic literary and theatrical character.
Of course, it turns out that Louise Brooks was the perfect choice for the role, especially under Pabst’s careful guidance. At the time, the world wasn’t quite ready for such a startling portrayal contained within a silent feature while audiences were fascinated by the potential of “talkies,” but later audiences came to admire it.
It is somehow appropriate that Louise was chosen for a role that mimicked ... to a certain extent ... many of her own self-defeating choices that drove her from the screen. Learning about her life is a series of What If and If Only incidents. In the meantime, much of her work has survived, allowing the Viewer the joy of discovery. And we also have this book, which may just be the most accessible “initial entry” into her life before delving into some of the other rich and rewarding biographies.
For those curious about Louise Brooks, I highly recommend this one.
The simple truth is that I couldn’t wait for my next reading session. While reading, I was fully engrossed in the narrative. And although that I disagree with a few choices made by the writer, I did feel that my understanding of Louise Brooks increased when I'd reached the conclusion. In short, this was a joy for me to read and I was very sorry to see it end.
The central tale recounts the emotional journey of Louise Brooks as she leaves Paramount Pictures and the Hollywood film factory to travel to Berlin at the invitation of Director, G. W. Pabst. There, she will make her most famous film ... and the one that many consider to be he best ... PANDORA’S BOX. It is a collaboration that will go down in the history of cinema.
Louise Brooks was an enigma. She had a naturalistic style of acting, almost reacting, to what was happening around her. Pabst guided that style throughout the entire production, not telling Louise what to do, but tapping into the emotional triggers that manifested into an incredible performance. Louise did not think of herself as a capable actress because she was not technique-driven, and those insecurities were fed upon by many of her co-performers who resented an unstructured American creating “their” iconic literary and theatrical character.
Of course, it turns out that Louise Brooks was the perfect choice for the role, especially under Pabst’s careful guidance. At the time, the world wasn’t quite ready for such a startling portrayal contained within a silent feature while audiences were fascinated by the potential of “talkies,” but later audiences came to admire it.
It is somehow appropriate that Louise was chosen for a role that mimicked ... to a certain extent ... many of her own self-defeating choices that drove her from the screen. Learning about her life is a series of What If and If Only incidents. In the meantime, much of her work has survived, allowing the Viewer the joy of discovery. And we also have this book, which may just be the most accessible “initial entry” into her life before delving into some of the other rich and rewarding biographies.
For those curious about Louise Brooks, I highly recommend this one.
August 18, 2013
My third Louise Brooks book of the summer...I find her utterly fascinating...ultimately, she's a tragic heroine...her fatal flaw is a complete disregard for her own gifts. Or maybe she just never got it.
This book, a novel with Louise as the main character, concentrates on the filming of PANDORA'S BOX, the role that was forgotten for years, and exalted too late to save her, or her career.
We see Louise drinking too hard, taking drugs, sleeping around, and making movies. We see her feud with GLoria Swanson and her battles with the studio bosses. We see her destroy her marriage and confound the judge by refusing to take alimony. Too bad. She died pretty much penniless and absolutely alone.
Then she goes to Berlin in the late 20's to work with an international cast on PANDORA'S BOX, a horribly sad, depressing film about Lulu, molested as a child and unable to love anyone, herself included. In the film, Lulu lures others to her, and to their doom. She's killed in the last scene by a Jack-the-Ripper sort of character.
The novel uses research about Louise's own live and weaves fact and fiction. I would occasionally find a detail that I'd learned from Brooks' own book, and nod in recognition. The director of PANDORA couldn't have known that Louise was also molested as a child and probably never came to terms with what was taken from her. I liked the way Bernstein took Louise back to past experiences in her life as she filmed this movie...we see pre-war Berlin and the decadence the Nazis were combatting.
My only quibble about the book is it doesn't really do justice to Brooks' intelligence. Her own writing and others who knew her attest to a bright, creative woman who got ground up and thrown away.
NOW, I need to find the movie and watch it.
This book, a novel with Louise as the main character, concentrates on the filming of PANDORA'S BOX, the role that was forgotten for years, and exalted too late to save her, or her career.
We see Louise drinking too hard, taking drugs, sleeping around, and making movies. We see her feud with GLoria Swanson and her battles with the studio bosses. We see her destroy her marriage and confound the judge by refusing to take alimony. Too bad. She died pretty much penniless and absolutely alone.
Then she goes to Berlin in the late 20's to work with an international cast on PANDORA'S BOX, a horribly sad, depressing film about Lulu, molested as a child and unable to love anyone, herself included. In the film, Lulu lures others to her, and to their doom. She's killed in the last scene by a Jack-the-Ripper sort of character.
The novel uses research about Louise's own live and weaves fact and fiction. I would occasionally find a detail that I'd learned from Brooks' own book, and nod in recognition. The director of PANDORA couldn't have known that Louise was also molested as a child and probably never came to terms with what was taken from her. I liked the way Bernstein took Louise back to past experiences in her life as she filmed this movie...we see pre-war Berlin and the decadence the Nazis were combatting.
My only quibble about the book is it doesn't really do justice to Brooks' intelligence. Her own writing and others who knew her attest to a bright, creative woman who got ground up and thrown away.
NOW, I need to find the movie and watch it.
March 28, 2013
Fascinating subject...I knew nothing about Louise Brooks, but having met her in this book, I want to know more! Gorgeous, selfish, temperamental, brash, and very real.
April 3, 2014
This book was so poorly written and the editing was so shoddy. Such a shame because Louise Brooks was a fascinating person and deserves better than this.
April 8, 2015
Quick read, with a detailed description of life in Weimar Republic-era Berlin.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews