Pandora's Box
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VHS Movie Reviews of Pandora's Box
Movie Review: Get the DVD version from Amazon.UK, March 12, 2005
Summary: 1 Stars
See Mark M's review.
This is erroneous information. DVD has to be Region 0, AND
1) YOUR TV MUST BE PAL(BRITISH)PICTURE FORMATTED, OR
2) YOUR DVD PLAYER MUST BE MULTISYSTEM, OR
3) THE DVD MUST BE NTSC PICTURE FORMATTED...NOT LIKELY
I hope this saves you money. It's too late for me!
Mike
Movie Review: "Men cluster to me like moths around a flame . . ."
Summary: 5 Stars
Louise Brooks, in this silent erotic masterpiece by G.W. Pabst, plays Lulu, an insatiable nymphomaniac who consumes men like the flame does the moth. With a look, a touch, she draws them into her lair, and when she's done with them she throws them away. In a jealous rage she gets a wealthy businessman to marry her, and after he protests when she continues to dally with other men, she kills him. She is acquitted of murder, but sentenced to 5 years manslaughter charges; she escapes and becomes a fugitive. She makes her way to London where she unknowingly seduces Jack the Ripper, and he kills her. The lighting and pacing of many scenes bring out the most erotic elements in Brooks, and we can feel without a doubt that this is a most dangerous woman. The first half, as Lulu's character is being shown, and the final scene with the Ripper, are the best, especially the latter--it's all shadows and imagination. One of the last great movies in the silent era.Movie Review: Get the DVD version from Amazon.UK
Summary: 5 Stars
There is an excellent DVD version, restored and uncut, available from Amazon.UK (ASIN:B0000667MT). It is Region 0, so that it can be played in the US. It also includes an excellent bonus feature, "Looking for Lulu," on the actress Louise Brooks (Lulu), narrated by Shirley MacLaine and including an interview with Brooks recorded in 1976.
Mark Haxthausen
Movie Review: Way overdue for DVD treatment!
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched "Diary of a Lost Girl" a while back, and absolutely cannot get Louise Brooks' face out of my mind. I'd buy "Pandora's Box" on DVD in a heartbeat! Kino and Image, are you listening?Movie Review: A Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
G. W. Pabst was one of the greatest directors of silent films. He had a way of working with his actors, one on one, that brought out a superior performance. Had it not been for Pabst, Louise Brooks would have been just another "flapper" actress who never made it in talkies. Pandora's Box was based on the play by Frank Wedekind that had made quite an impact, and brought the character of Lulu national attention. Finding the perfect Lulu for the film version was about as complicated as locating Scarlet O'Hare. In Louise Brooks, Pabst found the innocence and beauty that the part of Lulu demands. Pandora's Box reflects the reality that was Berlin between the world wars; sex was openly for sale. Lulu is at the same time innocent and a monster. She is disconnected from her actions, as when she kills Schoen, her reaction is detached as if she was unaware a gun could kill. The men who seek her lust after Lulu but also want to destroy her. It is interesting that all the actors involved in making Pandora's Box hated each other, and Louise Brooks, the American who was playing "our Lulu" caught the brunt of the hatred. The tension between them contributed to the feel of the movie. Certainly, this is not a movie for everyone but it is a fascinating look at a decadent time that finds a parallel in Pabst's Diary of a Lost Girl and The Joyless Street.
There seems to be an opinion that silent films are boring. Alrfred Hitchcock thought of silent films as the only example of pure cinema. Many silent movies (the movies were never silent, there always was music) have been remake as talkies but have never been able to capture the special magic that the older version. This is true of this film. Were Pandora's Box remade today we would have the violence but none of the insight.