G. W. Pabst’s 1929 film Pandora’s Box stars Louise Brooks as Lulu, the central figure linked with Pandora’s Box.
The German silent drama was directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and adapted from Frank Wedekind’s plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. Brooks plays Lulu, a charismatic woman whose relationships and choices drive the film’s tragic story. Her bobbed hairstyle and performance became closely associated with the film and helped establish its later reputation.
Pandora’s Box was not a literal retelling of the Greek myth. Instead, Wedekind’s Lulu character and Pabst’s film use the name as an artistic association with danger, desire, and destructive consequences. The film is therefore connected to the myth through its title and themes rather than through its plot.
The film was made during the silent-film era, although surviving presentations are often accompanied by music. It is now regarded as one of the important works of German Weimar cinema.