Pandora's Box (1929)

Originally posted to Facebook on 1/12/2019

Pandora's Box is our third film from 1929, and the second time we've seen Louise Brooks, after 1928's Beggars of Life. It was directed by G. W. Pabst and based on two plays by Frank Wedekind.

Though we have so far seen a number of European stars and directors come to the United States to make movies (e.g. Victor Sjöström, F. W. Murnau, Conrad Veidt), Brooks is possibly the only prominent American star we've seen shift to European films. In this film she plays Lulu, who is young and vivacious, but also selfish and duplicitous -- which is quite different than the pensive and timid character she played in Beggars of Life. She is in an ongoing relationship with Dr. Schön (played by Fritz Kortner), but also ends up in a love triangle with his son Alwa (Francis Lederer). Kortner is engaged to another woman, and is aware that his relationship with Brooks is self-destructive -- even saying at one point, "It'll be the death of me." A family friend, played by Alice Roberts, is infatuated with Lulu as well -- which was not entirely clear to us until well into the film. ("Why is she glaring at Lulu?" we wondered.) Needless to say this subplot was very unusual for the time.

The film is divided into two parts, which I believe correspond to the two plays on which it is based. The first part, which concerns the trajectory of the relationship between Kortner and Brooks, has a more focused narrative (and is, I believe, more successful) than the the second, which deals with the aftermath. The first portion tells a complete story, and in fact could stand alone as a cohesive film with only minor modifications. I am not sure that is true of the second portion, which is more fragmented.

Next week we see Escape from Dartmoor, a 1929 thriller directed by Anthony Asquith. The list, as always, is here: https://bit.ly/2lZtfmT