Die Büchse der Pandora (1929)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Frank Wedekind (plays)
Ladislaus Vajda (scenario)

Release Date:

22 February 1930 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | Lust | Escape | Rose | Controversy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Louise Brooks	...	Lulu
Fritz Kortner	...	Dr. Ludwig Schön
Francis Lederer	...	Alwa Schön (as Franz Lederer)
Carl Goetz	...	Schigolch
Krafft-Raschig	...	Rodrigo Quast
Alice Roberts	...	Gräfin Geschwitz - Countess Anna Geschwitz
Daisy D'Ora	...	Charlotte Marie Adelaide v. Zarnikow - braut Dr. Schöns - Dr. Schön's Bride (as Daisy d'Ora)
Gustav Diessl	...	Jack the Ripper (as Gustav Diesel)
Michael von Newlinsky	...	Marquis Casti-Piani (as Michael v. Newlinsky)
Sig Arno	...	Der inspizient - the instructor (as Siegfried Arno)

Also Known As:

Pandora's Box (UK) (USA)
Lulu
The Box of Pandora (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:133 min (restored version) | USA:109 min | Belgium:152 min (Copy with French titles at Brussels Musée du Cinéma) | 131 min (original version) (21.4 fps) | 110 min (VHS version)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Portugal:17 (original release) | Portugal:(Banned) (1936-1945) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1929) | UK:A (1929) | UK:PG (1993) | Australia:PG | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:(Banned) (1929) | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Nero-Film Studio, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Nero-Film AG

Trivia:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst initially incurred a lot of wrath when he cast American Louise Brooks in the role of Lulu, a part which was considered to be quintessentially German. Ultimately Brooks' performance silenced her critics.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The poster warning Londoners of Jack the Ripper is in German instead of English.

Quotes:

Lulu: You'll have to kill me to get rid of me.

Movie Connections:

Version of Lulu (1978)

The best "Lulu"-performance ever!

For his movie "Die Büchse Der Pandora (Panodra's Box)", G.W. Pabst took together the tragedies "Der Erdgeist" and "Die Büchse Der Pandora", forming the famous Lulu-diptych written by German dramatist Frank Wedekind (1864-1918), an important ancestor of literary expressionism, who wrote amongst other works "Frühlings Erwachen" that caused many scandals.

What is congenial about this movie, is not only the fact, that Louise Brooks is doubtless the best Lulu ever seen (in theater as well as on the screen), but how G.W. Pabst managed to amalgamate this two literary masterpieces of the time of sexual liberation in Europe.

It is a real pity, that not more of Pabst work can be reached in the US and that most of his work is not available at all on DVD.