In the 1929 German film Pandora’s Box, Louise Brooks plays the central character Lulu.
Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Pandora’s Box is a silent drama adapted from Frank Wedekind’s stage plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. Lulu is portrayed as charismatic, independent, and socially disruptive, drawing several people into relationships shaped by desire, jealousy, and manipulation.
The film is not a direct retelling of the ancient Greek myth. Its title signals a thematic connection: Lulu’s presence is treated by other characters as a force that releases consequences they cannot control. The production is now especially associated with Brooks’s performance and her distinctive bobbed hairstyle.
The film was made during the late silent era, although synchronized sound films were already emerging internationally. Its visual style, acting, and controversial subject matter helped establish it as a major work of Weimar-era German cinema. Lulu is therefore the character name to distinguish from Pandora, the mythological woman whose story inspired the title.