With an extraordinary leading actor and a free adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s plays, Austrian director G.W. Pabst created one of the most celebrated films of the Weimar era. American actor Louise Brooks plays Lulu, a free-spirited young woman who exerts an irresistible attraction on almost everyone around her.
Brooks had burned several bridges in Hollywood when Pabst brought her to Germany for her first European film. Her open gaze, modern acting style and sharp bob made her the ideal Lulu. The role turned her into one of the most recognisable faces in silent-film history.
The men and women around Lulu try to possess her, rescue her, condemn her or use her to fulfil their own desires. As she refuses to be confined, her life becomes increasingly destabilised. A lesbian storyline and the film’s frank sexuality led to censorship in several countries. Under the Nazi regime, Pandora’s Box was eventually banned altogether.
Audiences and critics responded coolly at its 1929 premiere. It was not until the 1950s that the film was rediscovered and praised for its striking imagery and remarkably modern performances. In the Netherlands, the feminist film collective Cinemien re-released it as part of a wider historical project devoted to female filmmakers and film stars.
In this way, a once-reviled film grew into a classic. Pandora’s Box is not only the work that made Louise Brooks immortal, but also a film that invites every new generation to look at Lulu and ask who is really opening Pandora’s box.
About the Netherlands Silent Film Festival
The Netherlands Silent Film Festival (NSFF) in Eindhoven is the largest festival dedicated to silent film in the Netherlands. In this original form of cinema, stories are told through images, expression and music. Without spoken dialogue, the inventiveness of the filmmakers takes centre stage.
At the festival and through programmes presented throughout the year, NSFF makes the cinematic heritage of the silent era accessible to a wide audience. It does so through film screenings, educational projects, workshops and lectures. The creativity and innovation of early cinema deserve to be seen and heard again.
For its programme, the NSFF team follows current developments in the international world of silent film, from recent rediscoveries and restorations to new research. Audience favourites share the bill with hidden gems, all presented with live musical accompaniment by international film musicians.
