News & Reviews
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann
Daniel Kehlmann’s historical fiction novel, The Director, delves into the life of legendary filmmaker G.W. Pabst. Known for his socially conscious and sexually frank silent movies, Pabst directed Greta Garbo in Hollywood before making a “Faustian bargain” with Goebbels, returning to Germany, and becoming a Nazi filmmaker. 
Critics have lauded Kehlmann’s nuanced portrayal:
- “Kehlmann’s rendering of the Faustian bargain [is] more psychologically plausible than the original,” notes NPR
- The New York Times praises it as “a marvelous performance — not only supple, horrifying and mordantly droll, but . . .absolutely convincing”
- As Salman Rushdie remarked at a New York launch party, it’s “curiously prophetic of what we now have to endure here”
— Ray
