G. W. Pabst directed the 1929 German film “Pandora’s Box.”
The film is a German-language silent drama based primarily on Frank Wedekind’s Lulu plays, “Earth Spirit” and “Pandora’s Box.” Pabst’s direction helped make the movie a significant work of German cinema during the late silent era. Its story follows Lulu, a charismatic and destructive figure whose relationships lead to escalating tragedy.
Louise Brooks plays Lulu, and her performance became one of the defining screen portrayals of the silent-film period. The movie’s title refers to the Pandora tradition while adapting Wedekind’s theatrical character rather than retelling Hesiod’s Greek myth directly.
Pabst is often grouped with German Expressionist filmmakers, although “Pandora’s Box” does not fit every strict definition of Expressionism. It is also sometimes confused with “Die Büchse der Pandora,” the film’s German title, or with later adaptations of the Lulu material. The 1929 film is distinct from the 1951 French film of the same English title.