Pabst takes several stories, tied together by key locations on a small street, to show the wealth disparities in 1920s Vienna. The social contrasts are everywhere, in the expressionistic visuals, in the characters and in the way the stories interweave where one person's gain is achieved at another's loss. What makes this more than just another polemic are the magnificent performances and romantic subplots, which lend a humanity to all the characters that engaged me into all their stories.