The Movie Room

Pandora’s Box 1929, directed by G.W. Pabst

Rating: 10/10

When I watched this movie in high school, I was deeply unimpressed—mostly because I went in hoping for a silent movie retelling of the actual Pandora’s Box myth which I thought it would be really cool to see with Méliès style effects. What there is instead I can now embrace: a story of a fallen woman that doesn’t judge her for her desires (comparatively) and tells an epic narrative of her rise and fall from grace.

Pabst is always a very interesting filmmaker, but what makes this movie stand out as its own masterpiece is Louise Brooks’s performance. The image of her in this movie, with her black bucket hair, is iconic for a reason. Now that I love this movie, I can definitely see how she could inspire so many women in the late 1920s and early 1930s to copy her haircut, even if by itself the haircut is strange. Despite her head looking like a protective helmet, Brooks does a great job of letting her defenses down and making her character Lulu into a realistic person. Other older movies, like Dangerous with Bette Davis are so stuck in their old gender norms, but here Lulu does things a lot “worse” than most of those women and the film still sympathizes with her and shows her as a person deserving of love and respect. A lot of silent film acting has aged horribly in the last 100ish years, but Brooks performance (which apparently wasn’t universally loved when it came out) has only gotten better. 

As a Christmas film, this is definitely not the one to watch as a happy option. The finale takes place in late 1800s London on Christmas, and Lulu continues to show warmth and happiness that demonstrates how even from her lowered position she embodies the spirit of love that defines the holiday. There are dfferent versions of this film, but I’ve only seen it with a sad ending. The tragic finale is so much sadder because it shows the power of Christmas spirit, but then how human nature is still unavoidable in a way that I wish could be avoided, but makes awful sense in how it works out. The happy ending seems more palatable to me than most tacked-on “fixed” endings (like with Brazil) as it seems like it would make for a much more uplifting Christmas message, but it probably wouldn’t make much narrative sense with the rest of the film. If I need to watch an uplifting film about the poor and unhoused during Christmastime, there is always It Happened on 5^th Avenue or Home Alone 2: Lost in New York instead.

I’ve been in a real big silent film mood recently and have been trying to increase their presence in my collection. The Criterion 4K UHD edition of this that I recently bought is a beautiful transfer in packaging that I think is really nice to look at and has great special features and booklet with it. It is worth the cost, especially if you can get it during one of their 50% off sales.