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Plot

German filmmaker G.W. Pabst's late-silent classic Pandora's Box (Die Büchse der Pandora) stars the hauntingly beautiful Louise Brooks as libertine dancer Lulu. Ever out for the "main chance," Lulu persuades her wealthy lover Dr. Schön (Fritz Kortner) to marry her. But in a fit of jealous rage, he pulls a gun, a scuffle ensues, and she shoots him. Eventually escaping to London with the doctor's moonstruck son Alwa (Francis Lederer), Lulu takes up residence with her "adopted" father Schigolch (Carl Götz), where she is reduced to walking the streets, with tragic consequences. Pandora's Box (based on two works by the controversial German writer Franz Wedekind) exudes smoky sensuality in every frame; regarded now as a masterpiece, the film received surprisingly scathing reviews, with most of the critical broadsides aimed at Louise Brooks (this was long before Brooks graduated from just another pretty Hollywood starlet to Cult Goddess).
MPAA Rating:
Not Rated
Genre(s):
Drama
Run Time:
110min.
Theatrical Release Date:
06/16/2006
DVD Release Date:
11/28/2006
Distributor(s):
Kino
Director(s):
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Starring:
Louise Brooks , Fritz Kortner , Francis Lederer , Alice Roberts , Gustav Diessl
Themes:
Femmes Fatales
Tone:
Grim,Sexual,Sexy,Stylized,Sensual
Keywords:
bad-luck,editor,morals,murder,mutilation,newspaper,poverty,promiscuity,prostitute/prostitution,protegé,revenge,seduction,serial-killer,silent,slasher,wife