Catalogue · No. 66 · Weimar Shadows · Under the Big Top
Pandora's Box
Die Büchse der Pandora
G. W. Pabst · 1928 · Germany · 141 min
Synopsis
A young woman whose vitality and sensuality captivate those around her becomes the center of destructive emotional entanglements involving desire, jealousy, and social hypocrisy. As relationships collapse and fortunes decline, her movement through theatrical and urban environments reveals a society unable to reconcile attraction with moral judgment.
Critique
G. W. Pabst rejects moralistic melodrama in favor of psychological ambiguity and social observation. Louise Brooks delivers a modern and remarkably natural screen performance whose emotional transparency transformed Lulu into an enduring cinematic figure. The film combines late silent visual sophistication with a lucid examination of erotic desire, exploitation, and the instability of bourgeois respectability.
Technical sheet
- Director
- G. W. Pabst
- Original title
- Die Büchse der Pandora
- Year
- 1928
- Country
- Germany
- Running time
- 141 min
- Genre
- Drama, Crime, Romance
- Written by
- Ladislaus Vajda, G.W. Pabst, Joseph Fleisler, Frank Wedekind
- Cinematography
- Günther Krampf
- Cast
- Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz, Krafft-Raschig, Alice Roberts
- Production
- Nero-Film AG
- Music
- Newly composed original score
Licensing
Screening availability
- Theatrical screenings
- Non-theatrical screenings
- Festivals and cinematheques
- Educational screenings
- Television broadcasting
- Digital platforms and streaming
- Promotional and editorial use
- Licensing of graphic and visual materials
Available formats
- DCP
- DCP with subtitles
- Apple ProRes
- MP4 Screening File
- MP4 Rehearsal Copy for Musicians (silent films)
- Blu-ray
- High-resolution archival masters
Promotional materials
- Posters
- Press stills
- Promotional assets
- Screening support materials
Available subtitles
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Portuguese
- Italian
- German
