Cinema
Pandora's Box
Die Büchse der Pandora
G. W. Pabst · 1929
Synopsis
Lulu is the mistress of Dr Schön, a newspaper editor, who tells her that he is going to marry a minister's daughter. Around her gravitate Schigolch, an old man who claims to have been her first protector, the strongman Quast, who wants to hire her for his act, and Alwa, Schön's son, who loves her. To get her out of the way, Schön has her hired for his son's revue; but Lulu refuses to perform in front of her rival and seduces him in the wings, where his fiancée surprises them.
Context
The film is drawn from two plays by Frank Wedekind, Earth Spirit (1895) and Pandora's Box (1904). Pabst chose Louise Brooks after seeing her in a film by Howard Hawks, Marlene Dietrich being his second choice. Shot in 1928 at the Staaken studios and shown in Berlin at the beginning of 1929, it was poorly received by the critics, who judged it unfaithful to Wedekind, and the countess in love with Lulu, one of the first lesbian characters in cinema, caused a scandal. It was banned in 1934 at the request of the Ministry of Propaganda.
Who it is for
A silent film of over two hours in its restored version, divided into eight acts and a prologue.
Prizes and reception
Poorly received on its release, it was rediscovered by historians as a classic of the cinema of the Weimar Republic.