“Should mention be made of Jessner’s directing? Definitely, as he is an ‘innovator’. In this film he creates his very own natura­lista expressionism, so to speak, an expressionism visible in his choice. He does not build crooked walls where straight ones might otherwise stand. Instead, when things are about to go wrong, he films the scene in front of the sloping glass roof of a studio. He satisfies his formal, expressionist needs by means of curtains, screens, and stairs. This is a good idea for the film, but good ideas entail obligations. We wanted to see it carried through to the end. What is more, there are some bad mistakes and tasteless moments in the direction (the finger on the ballet programme, the cookery book!). But the idea, if it was Jessner’s, to have Asta Nielsen play Wedekind’s Lulu, is surely the most wonderful of all. We would like to thank the Schwarzenberg cinema for bringing us this film”.

Béla Balazs, Die Erotik der Nielsen, ibid