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List Price: $39.95 | | Label: Criterion
Salesrank: 11329
Released: November 28, 2006 |
| Our Price: $26.00 |
| Used Price: $18.99 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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.
Description of Pandora's Box - Criterion Collection:
G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box serves as a filmic window into the decadent Weimar Republic because of its tauntingly beautiful star, Louise Brooks. Brooks, encompassing the very essence of sexual allure and mystery, is iconically linked to her character, Lulu, the dancer-turned-streetwalker who captivates all men in her path with her elusive beauty. Set in Berlin, 1928, Pandora's Box is about Lulu, an aspiring star whose patron, Dr. Schön (Fritz Kortner), finds loyalty to his fiancé impossible because of Lulu's unsurpassed charm. Schön's son, Alwa, also falls in love with Lulu until a series of tragic incidents render them destitute in London, where Lulu resorts to prostitution and, in a final devastating scene, picks up her final john, Jack the Ripper. In the silent film era, Brooks's expressive face and graceful movements enabled her to epitomize a Roaring Twenties' version of feminism: innocence underpinned by sexual innuendo. Key scenes in Pandora's Box, such as when Lulu thrills at Dr. Schön's fiancé discovering he and Lulu embraced, or when Lulu's gleaming eyes mimic Jack the Ripper's polished knife blade, are radically risqué examples of all-time seductive cinematic moments. The Criterion Collection's beautifully packaged release of Pandora's Box features a thorough booklet of essays and photos, as well as a biographical documentary about Brooks and an interview with Pabst's son, Michael. After languishing in obscurity for many years preceding her death in the '80s, Louise Brooks will now forever be remembered as Lulu, Hollywood's finest vixen. --Trinie Dalton
Pandora's Box - Criterion Collection Reviews:
What an Unexpected Surprise 
2009-11-24 - I generally prefer black & white films to color--if they're good, of course--but I really viewed that many silent pictures, and PANDORA'S BOX came as a real surprise. The overall "look" of the film is modern & there must have been extra effort spent to preserve this masterpiece of early German cinema. Another reviewer expressed dismay that the Nazi era completely interrupted the flow of German film--and I fully agree with that sentiment. [Incidentally, I did not view a copy purchased from Amazon, at least I don't think it was--but it did have the Criterion label & I think that's how the visual quality was so lovingly preserved.
Louise Brooks' Lulu is thoroughly contemporary, she reminded me of a "hip" chick. I believe her cropped hairdo was called an "Eaton" because so many University age women were sporting. It was the early days of the Liberated Woman. I was unfamiliar with Louise Brooks the actress and at first assumed that she was German. German expressionism is one of my favorite genre & it worked perfectly with Brook's add naturalism. There are deep rouged or thick eye makeup in the movie--for the exception of Lulu's father who is sort of "grostesque" character.
Lulu is the early 19th century A-Moral Poster Girl. Sometimes it's difficult to get a clear grasp on the character because she is so mercurial, seductive...and strange. The melodrama follows Lulu's sexual conquests in Germany (including a lesbian Countess) to her eventual self-exile in London. The conclusion of the film reminded me of THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE starring Vivian Leigh as a middleaged American recently widowed and living at very loose ends in Italy (incidentally, the movie also featured legendary German actress Lotte Lenya as a sort of female pimp.)I won't say any more because I don't want to give the end away--and it's a real jolt.
Louise Brroks is wonderful & PANDORA'S BOX is great.
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Faust (Restored 2-Disc Deluxe Edition)
Vampyr - Criterion Collection
M - Criterion Collection
Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition)
shipping is great
2009-11-04 - my items were shipped quickly and it was a plus in my book because they were a belated birthday gift and they took no time to get to my home.
Or is it Lulu's Box?
2009-08-07 - In Greek mythology, the story of Pandora's Box was the story of the havoc that can be unleashed when a woman recklessly fails to head the advice of a man.
In that way, the story is sexist and mysoginistic in much the same way as the story of Eve tempting Adam to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and of this story here where Ziegfield girl Louise Brooks bumps and grinds her way through this silent classic.
Brooks' character Lulu dances. She glides. She effortlessly turns the men around her to jelly because...well, she can, and also because she just enjoys it.
Like any reckless actor, the naive Lulu leaves carnage in her wake that ultimately and perhaps in an act of poetic justice ends up including even her.
Rightfully regarded as one of the great products of Weimar cinema this movie sadly reminds of what promise the German cinema may have had if only the Nazis hadn't put it out of existence (an event mirrored to a lessor degree in the United States as to American cinema by the creation of the Hayes Code).
Highly recommended.
A beauty to disintegrate men's souls
2008-12-06 - Somewhere emblazoned in the pathos of Greek mythology, the God's created Pandora, a female object of pristine beauty and unbridled sexual ferocity. She possessed a box, one that contained all the evils of the world. And once opened, chaos was unleashed in frenetic fasion.
This classic story here features Louise Brooks, who is a goddess in her own right. She plays Lulu, the most gorgeous, alluring, hypnotic, and dangerous female character in the history of cinema. High praise, but believe me, she casts an irresistable spell over any man who wanders into her vicinty.
Lulu is a real charmer, seducing men with her radiant smile and affectionate ways. Her beauty is so powerful, so controlling, that it could drive a man to do foolish things.
Like when one poor fella tries to resist, she replies with a sweet sort of keen elegance, "YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME TO GET RID OF ME." Whoa ho ho, a powerful bit of foreshadowing.
The story advances with a murder, trial, and escape, with the camera rarely drifting far from Lulu's glorious visage. The drama builds as she's eventually forced into prostitution, with an astounding climax with Jack the Ripper. Few cinematic exchanges hinge with such an absorbing level of uncertainty. Movie making at its absolute finest. This silent film offers some incredible scores as well, to lull you into a state of beautiful oblivion.
On a side note, Quentin Tarantino tried to somewhat recreate this mesmerizing femme fatale with Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. The likeness in undeniable, but really you can only catch lightning in a bottle once, if you're lucky.
Lu Lu at her best !!!
2008-09-15 - It was a dream come true to find this movie in the Criterion Collection. Pandorax Box is a classic movie and a great story ... I loved watching this movie. This collection is loaded with interviews from people and family members who knew Louise Brooks very well, also included in this DVD Collection is Lulu in Berlin, Looking for Lulu, and also a commentary throughout the whole movie... I also must say that there are four scores to chose from, what other movie has that ??? Just a great DVD for Louise Brooks fans a must have !!! and there are also subtitles in english too... If you are a Louise Brooks fan this movie collection is a must ...
