| Pandora's Box | |
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theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | G. W. Pabst |
| Produced by | Seymour Nebenzal |
| Written by | G. W. Pabst Ladislaus Vajda |
| Starring | Louise Brooks Francis Lederer Carl Goetz Alice Roberts |
| Cinematography | Günther Krampf |
| Distributed by | Süd-Film |
| Release date(s) | Germany: January 30, 1929 United States: December 1, 1929 (New York City, New York) |
| Running time | 100-152 mins. (US) 133 mins. (dir. cut) |
| Country | Weimar Republic |
| Language | Silent film German intertitles |
Pandora's Box (German: Die Büchse der Pandora) is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (1904).[1] Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the film stars Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer. Brooks' portrayal of a seductive, thoughtless young woman whose raw sexuality and uninhibited nature bring ruin to herself and those who love her, although initially unappreciated, eventually made the actress a star.
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Lulu (Louise Brooks) is the mistress of a respected, middle-aged newspaper publisher, Dr. Ludwig Schön (Fritz Kortner). One day, she is delighted when an old patron Schigolch (Carl Goetz) shows up at her door. However, when Schön also arrives, she has Schigolch hide on the terrace. Schön breaks the news to Lulu that he is going to marry Charlotte von Zarnikow (Daisy D'Ora), the daughter of the Minister of the Interior. Lulu tries to get him to change his mind, but when he discovers the disreputable-looking Schigolch, he leaves. Schigolch introduces Lulu to Rodrigo Quast (Krafft-Raschig), who wants her to join his new trapeze act.
The next day, Lulu goes to see her best friend Alwa (Francis Lederer), who happens to be Schön's son. Schön is greatly displeased to see her, but comes up with the idea to have her star in his son's musical production to get her off his hands. However, Schön makes the mistake of bringing Charlotte to see the revue. When Lulu refuses to perform in front of her rival, Schön takes her into a storage room to try to persuade her otherwise, but she seduces him instead. Charlotte finds them embracing.
A defeated Schön resigns himself to marrying Lulu. While the wedding reception is underway, he is disgusted to find Lulu playfully cavorting with Schigolch and Quast in the bedchamber. He gets his pistol and chases the interlopers out. The shocked guests leave while Lulu claims that Shigolch is her father. Once they are alone, Schön insists his new wife take the gun and shoot herself. When Lulu refuses, the gun goes off in the ensuing struggle, and Schön is killed.
At her murder trial, Lulu is sentenced to five years for manslaughter. However, Schigolch and Quast trigger a fire alarm and spirit her away in the confusion. When Alwa finds her back in the Schön home, he confesses his feelings for her and they decide to flee the country. Countess Augusta Geschwitz (Alice Roberts), herself infatuated with Lulu, lets the fugitive use her passport. On the train, Lulu is recognized by another passenger, Marquis Casti-Piani (Michael von Newlinsky). He offers to keep silent in return for money. He also suggests a hiding place, a ship used as an illegal gambling den.
After several months however, Casti-Piani sells Lulu to an Egyptian for his brothel, and Quast blackmails Lulu for financing for his new act. Desperate for money to pay them off, Alwa cheats at cards, but is caught at it. Lulu turns to Schigolch for help. He has Geschwitz lure Quast to a stateroom, where she murders him. Then Schigolch, Lulu, and Alwa flee.
They end up living in squalor in a drafty London garret. On Christmas Eve, driven to prostitution, Lulu has the misfortune of picking a remorseful Jack the Ripper (Gustav Diessl) as her first client. Though he protests he has no money, she likes him and invites him to her lodgings anyway. Schigolch drags Alwa away before they are seen. Jack is touched and secretly throws away his knife. Inside however, he spots another knife on the table and cannot resist his urges. Unaware of Lulu's fate, Alwa deserts her, joining a passing Salvation Army parade.
Cast notes:
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 well known.[1] This allowed Pabst to take liberties with the story.[1]
During the first week or two of filming, Brooks went out partying every night with her current lover, George Preston Marshall, much to Pabst's displeasure. When Marshall left, a relieved Pabst imposed a stricter lifestyle on his star.
On December 2, 1929, The New York Times called it "a disconnected melodrama", with "a seldom interesting" narrative. The reviewer found Brooks "attractive", but her expressions "often difficult to decide", and concluded it was "filmed far better than the story (deserved)".[3]
The film was re-discovered in the 1950s by critics, who acclaimed it greatly.[1] Modern critics now praise the film as one of the classics of Weimar Germany's cinema, along with The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari, Metropolis, The Last Laugh, and The Blue Angel.[1][4]
Renowned critic Roger Ebert reviewed the film in 1998 with great praise, and remarked of Brooks' presence, "she regards us from the screen as if the screen were not there; she casts away the artifice of film and invites us to play with her".[5]
The film is notable for its lesbian subplot in the attraction of Countess Augusta Geschwitz (in some prints Anna) to Lulu. The character of Geschwitz is defined by her masculine look; she wears a tuxedo. Roberts resisted the idea of playing a lesbian.[1]
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. This connection is made explicitly by the prosecutor in the trial.
In France, the film was edited making Alwa's secretary and the countess become Lulu's childhood friend. Lulu is found innocent at her trial and there is no Jack the Ripper character as the film ends 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.[6][7]
In North America, Pandora's Box was released on a two disc DVD set on November 28, 2006 by the Criterion Collection.[8] Four soundtracks were commissioned for the film's DVD release: 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.[8]
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