Main Cast: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Alice Roberts, Gustav Diessl
Release Year: 1929
Country: DE
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
German filmmaker G.W. Pabst's late-silent classic Pandora's Box (Die Büchse der Pandora) stars the hauntingly beautiful Louise Brooks as libertine dancer Lulu. Ever out for the "main chance," Lulu persuades her wealthy lover Dr. Schön (Fritz Kortner) to marry her. But in a fit of jealous rage, he pulls a gun, a scuffle ensues, and she shoots him. Eventually escaping to London with the doctor's moonstruck son Alwa (Francis Lederer), Lulu takes up residence with her "adopted" father Schigolch (Carl Götz), where she is reduced to walking the streets, with tragic consequences. Pandora's Box (based on two works by the controversial German writer Franz Wedekind) exudes smoky sensuality in every frame; regarded now as a masterpiece, the film received surprisingly scathing reviews, with most of the critical broadsides aimed at Louise Brooks (this was long before Brooks graduated from just another pretty Hollywood starlet to Cult Goddess). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
G.W. Pabst's most famous film featured his first, star-making collaboration with American actress Louise Brooks in a complex exploration of sexual psychology and Weimar Germany's social decadence. Working from Frank Wedekind's play in Pabst's trademark realist style, Pabst and Brooks transformed the character of Lulu from an evil temptress into a hedonistic innocent at ease with her sexuality. Pursued by men and women alike, Lulu is prey as much to social repression as to her own insatiable desires, as she winds up blamed for the troubles that others have brought on themselves through their own sexual hypocrisy. The appearance of Jack the Ripper at the conclusion is a sign less of sensationalist melodrama than of Lulu's internalized victimization. Brooks's subtle, nuanced performance and Pabst's fluid editing style infuse Pandora's Box with a sensuality that remains undiminished to this day. Critically panned on its release, Pandora's Box has since come to be seen as a hypnotic masterwork, remarkable for its frank treatment of sexuality and the sympathetic, inscrutable, fascinating presence of Brooks, who became a Jazz Age flapper icon. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Gustav Diessl - Jack the Ripper; Michael von Newlinsky - Marquis Casti-Piani; Daisy D'Ora - Charlotte M.A. von Zanik; Sig Arno - Instructor; Carl Götz - Schigolch (Papa Bromnier); Krafft Raschig - Rodrigo Quasi
Louise Brooks stars as Lulu, a young and impulsive vaudeville performer whose raw sexuality and uninhibited nature bring about the downfall of almost everyone she meets. She marries a respectable newspaper publisher, but soon drives him into insanity, climaxing in an incident in which she accidentally shoots him to death. Found guilty of manslaughter, she escapes from justice with the help of her former pimp (whom she considers her father) and the son of her dead husband, who is also in love with her. After spending several months hiding in an illegal gambling den in France, where Lulu is nearly sold into slavery, Lulu and her friends end up living in squalor in a London garret. On Christmas Eve, driven into prostitution by poverty, Lulu meets her doom at the hands of Jack the Ripper.
Production
Pandora's Box had already been adapted for the screen by Arzén von Cserépy in 1921 in Germany under the same title, with Asta Nielsen in the role of Lulu.[1] As there were musical, plays and other cinema features of the film at the time, the story of Pandora's Box was commonplace in culture.[1] This allowed Pabst to take liberties with the story of the film.[1]
Carl Goetz as Schigolch: there is no real definiton of his relation to Lulu but it is suggested in the film that he is or has acted as a sort of pimp for Lulu.[1]
On seeing Louise Brooks as a circus performer in the 1928Howard Hawks' film A Girl in Every Port, director G.W. Pabst tried to get Brooks on loan from Paramount Pictures.[2] Pabst's offer wasn't even given to Brooks by the studio until she left Paramount over a salary dispute. On not receiving Brooks for the role, Pabst's second choice was Marlene Dietrich.[2]
The character of Countess Anna Geschwitz is defined by her masculine look in the tuxedo she wears. Belgian actress Alice Roberts resisted the idea of playing a lesbian.[1]
Themes
The film is notable for its lesbian subplot in the character of Countess Augusta Geschwitz (in some prints Anna Geschwitz, played by Alice Roberts).
The title is a reference to Pandora of Greek mythology, who upon opening a box given to her by the gods released all evils into the world, leaving only hope behind.
Release
In France, the film was edited making Alwa Schon's secretary and the countess become Lulu's childhood friend. Lulu is found innocent in the film at her trial and there is no Jack the Ripper character as the film ended with Lulu joining the Salvation Army.[2]
In the United Kingdom, Pandora's Box was released on DVD on June 24, 2002 by Second Sight Films.[3][4]
In North America, Pandora's Box was released on a two disc DVD set on November 28, 2006 by the Criterion Collection.[5] Four soundtracks were commissioned for the film's DVD release, including an approximation of the score cinema audiences might have heard with a live orchestra, a Weimar Republic-era cabaret score, a modern orchestral interpretation, and an improvisational piano score.[5]
