Pandora's Box [DVD]

This review is for the excellent ‘Second Sight’ edition DVD.‘Pandora’s Box’ is a long episodic film, split into ‘acts’ (reflecting its theatrical origins). The story focusses on Lulu, a young woman who every man (and even one woman) seems to lust after. And, like the mythical Pandora, Lulu brings out the worst in those who cross her path. A tragic trajectory to the tale is inevitable as there’s barely a decent character amongst the men who enter her life. Still, it’s all fascinating stuff: sex and murder, drinking and gambling …I’ve now had a chance to see this film twice (and I also knew the story from Alban Berg’s famous opera ‘Lulu’), and as usual with the best of silent era films (especially those by the German masters) there’s plenty of atmosphere, light and shadow. The closing act, set in London at Christmas, is particularly well done, with its ironic, spiritual overtones.The film has a decent soundtrack too, with jazzy elements and chamber music.Another great plus about this particular release is the hour-long documentary about the life of star Louise Brooks containing plenty of fascinating clips from her all-too-brief filmography. (‘Diary of a Lost Girl’ barely gets a mention, though, despite being the one genuine companion piece to ‘Pandora’s Box’ by the same director G.W.Pabst).

An infamous movie in 1929, Pandora's Box still manages to radiate uncontrolled sexual tension more than eighty years later. That tension is mostly due to Louise Brooks, who is the heroine and villainess of a story that starts as light comedy, but gradually descends into full-scale destruction, bringing down anyone who comes in contact with her. And they do: as the prostitute Lulu, Brooks can't keep the cast's men (and one woman) away from herself, and she doesn't want to. They, on the other hand, sacrifice happiness, wealth and self-respect to get close to her before they are invariably burned. Lulu herself fares little better, and her trials, if a bit phoney in their melodrama, are nothing but heartbreaking. Nevertheless, she is more monster than victim. Her seemingly childish personality, effortless charm and flirting unreliability conceals a genuinely remorseless and amoral person who gives no great attention to the consequences of her actions, and preys on others in ways that suggest parallels with movies like Nosferatu, even if her victims die slightly happier.The power of the movie mainly hinges on Louise Brooks' charged performance, but she is helped by great secondary characters - the old and worldly vagrant Schigolch (who might be Lulu's father or first pimp), the wealthy and respected Dr. Ludwig Schön, and his son, the unhappy Alwa. Uncharacteristically for the period, Lulu's loves include Countess Augusta Geschwitz, who may be the film's second strongest personality, captured in her own tragic love for Lulu. Much can be written about the raw images on the screen: shadows and light infused with a glittering light that show 1920s movie techniques at their finest, maybe only exceeded by some of Murnau's sequences.As human drama goes, this is a grand film; and as a demonstration of technical expertise, its accomplishments are no less impressive. Brooks, of course, is an icon of her age - although at the time she was neither among the most famous nor among the most respected, her stature has grown into one of the greatest women captured in the pictures. This DVD features excellent image quality (for a movie made in 1929), and comes with the full-length documentary Looking for Lulu, which would be recommended viewing even on its own.

So boring, intellectually unengaging.

It is only by watching this film that you really get to appreciate how special Louise Brooks was. It is rare to get an actress who sparkles on the screen with the zest that she does here. She also looks much more modern than the 1920s. She can play the whole gamut from sex-kitten, to ruthless femme fatale, (looking every inch the predatory black widow when she's in court dressed in widow's weeds) to vivacious clown (she looks at times like the little pierrot figure). The supporting cast are also very good, particularly the actress playing Lulu's lesbian admirer. I thought that over 2 hours of a silent film might be too much to take in one go, but it kept me absorbed from beginning to end. The soundtrack is done sympathetically, but I wish a bit more imagination had been used on it. Nevertheless that's a small gripe on what is undoubtedly a cinema classic.

A genuinely stunning film, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted by Brooks. Great transfer to DVD, I wonder if Criterion will eventually bring it to bluray?

Had the makings of the silent film

Great film, excellent DVD.

Louise Brooks best film