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Third
Keswick Film Festival
15-17 February 2002 |
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Pandoras Box
ZEAL-STRICKEN PROMETHEUS moulded mortal men from clay and placed them on the earth, endowing his creations with fire, art and science stolen from his fellow gods. In vengeance, the gods produced a woman whom no creature could possibly resist. They named her Pandora and sent her to Epithemes, Prometheus' brash and foolhardy brother, who was helpless against her charms. The Olympians also armed Pandora with a box, containing sin, passion, famine, pestilence, greed, war, and horrors indescribable. Playful Pandora willed to open the box, and under the hynotized watch of Epithemes, she did so without opposition, bringing vice to mortal paradise. Prometheus' cherished children were overcome by the calamities of Pandora's box, and the Olympians savoured their revenge.
Lulu (Brooks) is a woman whom no man can resist; her Berlin penthouse is a revolving door for pleasure-seeking playboy with lonely lives and meagre principles. Another regular visitor is Schigolch (Goetz), a grinning old boozer who masquerades as Lulu's father so that he can tap her for cash and whisky. Schigolch encourages Lulu to enter vaudeville and show herself to the world, and her most prominent customer, the newspaper tycoon and socialite extraordinaire Ludwig Schoen (Cortner), arranges for her to take the lead in his son's snazzy song-and-dance revue. Schoen is scheduled to marry soon, but his infidelity with Lulu threatens to destroy the union. He is an intelligent and reasonable man, but Lulu's charms are too powerful for him and his intelligence works against him - he knows he has no chance of escaping seduction and there's absolutely nothing he can do about it. In a feat of vanguard photography, we witness her sexual manipulation at its most psychologically merciless, during a backstage tryst with Schoen at her vaudeville debut. Schoen's fiancee catches the two in this moment of intimacy and their relationship is destroyed. Lulu replaces her as Schoen's bride, but Schoen pronounces the ceremony his "execution." He understands that Lulu, with her fickle disposition and hypnotic beauty, couldn't possibly be satisfied with a single partner and probably isn't capable of love. Further, Schoen's obsession with the girl could only drive him mad, as his affection isn't returned and she can never be what he wants her to be. This rational, successful businessman puts a pistol to his heart and escapes dementia. At the trial investigating Schoen's death, Lulu is found guilty of his murder - apparently the jury wasn't won over when she flashed her entrancing smile at the prosecuting lawyer. But Schoen's son Alwa - fixated by Lulu and destined to follow his father's path - helps her to escape after a false fire alarm brings panic and chaos to the courthouse. They head underground to a nonpartisan gambling ship, later accompanied by family friend Geschwitz (Roberts), a countess.
By Geschwitz's longing gazes and clumsy displays of affection, it's obvious that Lulu's charms have ensnared her as well. Whomever Lulu comes into contact with, she gives a deep sense of frustrated lust. Like the mythological basis of the title, she personifies sexuality at its most primal and summons dark impulses unfamiliar to her doomed consorts. In a desperate last-ditch effort to cut his losses, Alwa cheats in poker, only to be caught and chased off the ship. He, Lulu and Schigolch eventually wind up in London, penniless, at the height of Jack the Ripper's reign of terror. The audiovisual apogee of silent film, G.W. Pabst's paranoid fantasy may be one of the most erotic experiences the screen can offer.
Blooming starlet Louise Brooks abandoned Hollywood to craft this masterpiece with the German auteur Pabst, and Hollywood never forgave her; after this brilliant and fetching performance, she practically disappeared. If this movie ended her career, it was a worthy sacrifice. Perhaps as irresistible as her presence are the flickering images, some of the best-composed in history, drowning in light. Pabst's one unqualifed success shimmers with the dark energy of the Jazz Age.
Roger Ebert Review, Chicago Sun-Times
©
Keswick Film Club 2002
Keswick Film Club is a voluntarily-run, not-for-profit organisation.
Registered Charity Number 1083395