The 1929 German film based on Frank Wedekind’s plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box is titled Pandora’s Box.
Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the silent film stars Louise Brooks as Lulu, a magnetic performer whose relationships and choices lead to escalating personal and social catastrophe. Its screenplay draws on Wedekind’s two Lulu dramas, Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box, rather than directly retelling the ancient Greek myth.
The film is especially associated with Brooks’s performance and with Pabst’s expressionist-era visual style. It was made during the final period of silent cinema, shortly before sound films became dominant internationally. The production is German, and its original title is commonly written as Die Büchse der Pandora.
This film is distinct from Albert Lewin’s 1951 film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, which is also sometimes called Pandora. The two productions share a mythic title but have different directors, casts, stories, and release years.