Pandora’s Box
Directed by G. W. Pabst • 1929 • Germany
Starring Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer
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.
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Pandora’s Box
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 ...
Extras
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PANDORA'S BOX Cabaret Score
Composer Dimitar Pentchev’s score is a whimsical, innovative take on the music of a Weimar-era cabaret.
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PANDORA’S BOX Modern Orchestral Score
Peer Raben—one of the most prolific composers of the New German Cinema, best known for his work with filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder—presents a more modern take on a silent-film score.
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PANDORA’S BOX Piano Improvisation Score
Stéphan Oliva performs this pensive, impressionistic piano score for 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.
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Richard Leacock on Louise Brooks
Thirty-five years after his interview with actor Louise Brooks, veteran documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock discusses her charm, reclusion, and enduring allure.
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Michael Pabst on His Father, G. W. Pabst
Michael Pabst was born in 1941, well after his father, G. W. Pabst, made the films he was most famous for—and in the period that damaged the director’s reputation for decades. In addition to operating an art gallery in Munich, Michael Pabst has taken both a familial and scholarly interest in his ...
