Rent Pandora's Box (1929)
3.8 of 5 from 136 ratings
2h 11min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Adapted from a pair of plays by Frank Wedekind, 'Pandora's Box' tells the story of sex worker Lulu (Louise Brooks), a free spirit whose open sexuality breeds chaos in its wake. When Lulu's latest lover, the newspaper editor Dr. Ludwig Schdn (Fritz Kortner), announces plans to leave her to marry a more respectable woman, Lulu is devastated. Cast in a musical revue written by Schon's son, Aiwa (Francis Lederer), Lulu seduces Schon once more - only to have their tryst exposed, and Schon's plans for a more socially acceptable marriage shattered. Left with no choice but to marry Lulu, Schon meets with tragedy on their wedding night. Lulu stands trial for the incident, facing years of imprisonment. With the aid of her former pimp (Carl Goetz), an infatuated lesbian countess (Alice Roberts) and Aiwa, she flees toward a fate of increasing squalor and peril, finally crossing paths one Christmas Eve with Jack the Ripper. - Actors:
- Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz, Krafft-Raschig, Alice Roberts, Daisy D'Ora, Gustav Diessl, Michael von Newlinsky, Sig Arno
- Directors:
- Georg Wilhelm Pabst
- Producers:
- Heinz Landsmann, Seymour Nebenzal
- Writers:
- Frank Wedekind, Ladislaus Vajda, Joseph Fleisler, Georg Wilhelm Pabst
- Aka:
- Die Buchse der Pandora
- Studio:
- Second Sight Films Ltd.
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- 100 Years of German Expressionism, A Brief History of French Poetic Realism, A Brief History of Lesbian Cinema, Award Winners, Film History, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Vanessa Redgrave, Holidays Film Collection, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 1, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Howard Hawks, The Last Laugh: The Film That Changed Cinema, Top 10 Screen Kisses (1896-1979)
- Countries:
- Germany
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 30/10/2023
- Run Time:
- 133 minutes
- Languages:
- German LPCM Mono, Silent
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Orchestral Score by Peer Raben
- New audio commentary by critic Pamela Hutchinson
- The New Woman and The Jazz Age: The Dangerous Feminine in 'Pandora's Box' - New visual appreciation by author and critic Kat Ellinger
- Godless Beasts - New video essay by David Cairns
- Lulu in Wonderland - New video essay by Fiona Watson
- Restoring 'Pandora's Box' - New interview with Martin Koerber
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Reviews (2) of Pandora's Box
Classic Late Silent. - Pandora's Box review by Steve
There's something about silent cinema which promotes performances which have become mythic. And Louise Brooks as the tragic courtesan Lulu, falling slowly through hedonistic Weimar Berlin, is one of these. Brooks was monolingual and from Wichita, Kansas, so... a long way from home. But she flawlessly captures the spirit of capricious, sensual spontaneity.
Lulu is a waif who only has her sexuality to exploit to survive. She leads a coterie of crooked oddballs who also get by in the only ways they know. She has become rated as a feminist symbol. My feeling is the film- adapted from a pair of plays by Frank Wedekind- is more broadly critical of inequality, and the hypocrisy of German bourgeois society.
Now, at least to non-German audiences, it's GW Pabst's film which most represents the divine decadence of '20s Germany. Even though Wedekind's play dates from 1904. There is a prominent lesbian character. Lulu is compulsively promiscuous. Society is divided between the ostentatious excesses of the wealthy and the crimes of the poor. Even Louise's hairstyle is an icon of the period.
Lulu is both a femme fatale and a victim, and Brooks plays that ambiguity like a virtuoso. In London she meets Jack the Ripper and the whole bundle suddenly feels like fan fiction! Though this episode allows Pabst to adopt some welcome expressionism. He even seems to sanctify her! But Brooks legendary performance always transcends these moments of phoney melodramatics.
2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
a startling insight into the underbelly of the1920s - Pandora's Box review by tm
this surprisingly modern film is a direct and frank study of the flip side of the emancipated woman of the 20's. It sheds light on the price women paid for social and sexual freedom, and reveals the Weimar Republic (which in turn brought about the birth of the Nazi party) as a festering sewer for the blatant abuse of wealth and power.
there is at the centre of this film, a hypnotic performance by Louise Brooks, who is alluring, tender, witty and callous. a complex character realised by an extraordinary actor.
a dark film worth watching and another landmark of the silent era..
by the way, what is a menorah doing in one of the early scenes: is it a subtle anti-Semitic product placement?
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.