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Louise Brooks is stunningly seductive as the gamine protagonist Lulu in "Pandora's Box," the first of two collaborations between her and acclaimed German director D.W. Pabst.
Lulu is a professional mistress, and it's no wonder why. Everyone she meets, young and old, male and female, falls under her erotic spell, and while she does very little in most cases to explicitly court their attention, she does even less to discourage it. Eventually this leads to some disastrous consequences for herself and everyone around her.
The film is classic for good reason. First and foremost is presence of the beautiful Brooks, who, through Pabst's superior photography, managed to cast her spell as effectively on the viewer as she does the characters in film.
The Criterion release is, as per usual, excellent. The film itself can be viewed with your choice of 4 scores, 2 of them orchestral, 1 in a cabaret style, and the last improvisational piano. There's also a commentary by a pair of film historians. The second disc contains a 60-minute TCM produced documentary, "Looking for Lulu," and a 45-minute interview with Louise Brooks. Also included in the package is a rather large book - nearly 100 pages - containing photos of Brooks, two essays on Pandora's Box (one of which is by Brooks herself who was in her post-Hollywood career apparently an accomplished essayist) and a long biographical piece of Brooks from the New Yorker called "The Girl in the Black Helmet."
8/10
