Which 1929 German film directed by G. W. Pabst shares its title with Pandora’s Box?

The 1929 German film directed by G. W. Pabst is titled Pandora’s Box. Its German title is Die Büchse der Pandora, and Louise Brooks plays Lulu, the film’s central character.

Pabst’s film is a silent drama based primarily on Frank Wedekind’s Lulu plays, Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora. It is not a direct screen adaptation of Hesiod’s Greek myth. The title uses the mythic phrase as an image for destructive desire, social scandal, and consequences that expand beyond the protagonist’s control.

Louise Brooks’s performance became one of the defining screen roles of the late silent era. Her bobbed hairstyle and detached, charismatic portrayal of Lulu helped make the film an enduring work of German cinema and a major example of the New Objectivity period.

The film is often confused with later productions that also use the Pandora title. The identifying details here are its 1929 release, German production, Pabst’s direction, and Brooks’s starring role. Those facts distinguish it from science-fiction, horror, and television works with similar names.