Pandora's Box

In the Greek legend of Pandora, all the ills of the world were unleashed when she opened her forbidden jar, and all that was left was that most precious and fragile of forces – hope. That’s sort of the story of Pandora’s Box. Reviled and censored on release, film fans and historians long hoped that it would be restored and reevaluated. Now the tale of Lulu, a libertine, and her sexual exploits across a repressive Europe, is seen as a masterpiece of Weimar cinema, most especially in the tension between Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s post-expressionistic directorial style and an eternally captivating and haunting performance from Louise Brooks, the American star who beat out Marlene Dietrich for the part. – Richard Whittaker