Pandora's box = Die Buchse der Pandora = Lulu

A chronicle of the last months of Lulu’s life has been extracted from Wedekind’s play with more emphasis on thematic and psychological continuity than dramatic unity. Pabst portrays a gallery of characters ranging from the masochistic Schon to the compulsively psychotic Jack the Ripper - and Countess Geschwitz, the screen’s first unequivocal lesbian - with psychological acuity. Lulu, guileless and sexually ambiguous, is to Tony Rayns “the literal calm eye of the storm”. Further, Brooks’s performance is “passive” yet vital, suspended with candour and precision between innocence and childishly fleeting - but intense - emotions. Her emotional vitality and Pabst’s unobtrusive cutting on action make Pandora the most “modern” of silent classics. Cast includes Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Franz Lederer, Carl Goetz, Carl Raschig and Alice Roberts. Adapted from Wedekind’s plays “Erdgeist” and “Die Buchse der Pandora”. Review by Tony Rayns, Monthly Film Bulletin, May 1974.