PANDORA’S BOX

A true cinematic masterpiece inspired by Frank Wedekind’s two plays, Pandora’s Box and Earth’s Spirit, which were described as immoral at the time of their publication. The film also caused quite a stir when it was released, although it is one of the pinnacles of Pabst’s cinema ‘for its complex balance of seductive sensuality and tragic sense of innocence’. The film’s strength stems mainly from the meeting of Pabst’s talent with the magical presence of the American Louise Brooks, with her legendary helmet of black hair. Lulu, a travelling florist, young and beautiful, innocent and perverse, the daughter of a beggar, has alternating relationships with various men: the upper middle-class speculator Schön, the athlete and acrobat Rodrigo, Schön’s young son, the old pimp Schilgoch. They all lose themselves in Lulu, because her instinct knows no disguises, and the men who come across her recognise the falseness of their lives and their own perdition. After dramatic vicissitudes, Lulu’s life ends in London where, reduced to soliciting clients on the streets, she falls victim to a client.