Pandora’s Box
Pandora’s Box • 2h 12m
Directed by G. W. Pabst • 1929 • Germany
One of the masters of early German cinema, G. W. Pabst had an innate talent for discovering actresses (including Greta Garbo). And perhaps none of his female stars shone brighter than Kansas native and onetime Ziegfeld girl Louise Brooks, whose legendary persona was defined by Pabst's lurid, controversial melodrama PANDORA'S BOX. Sensationally modern, the film follows the downward spiral of the fiery, brash, yet innocent showgirl Lulu, whose sexual vivacity has a devastating effect on everyone she comes in contact with. Daring and stylish, PANDORA'S BOX is one of silent cinema's great masterworks and a testament to Brooks's dazzling individuality.
Up Next in Pandora’s Box
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PANDORA’S BOX Commentary
Recorded in 2005, this audio commentary features film studies professors Thomas Elsaesser, author of “Weimar Cinema and After,” and Mary Ann Doane, author of “Femme Fatale.”
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Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu
Made by Hugh Munro Neely in 1998, LOUISE BROOKS: LOOKING FOR LULU follows the iconic star from her early childhood through her years of fame, and finally to her later life of seclusion and rediscovery.
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Lulu in Berlin
Vérité documentarian Richard Leacock’s LULU IN BERLIN, presented here, features one of the few long interviews ever done with actor Louise Brooks. It took place in her apartment in Rochester, New York, in 1974.
