One of the most expressive, luminous performances in all of silent cinema is that of Louise Brooks in G. W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box. Now, thanks to a new restoration, audiences will have a chance to rediscover the 1929 masterpiece. Ahead of a theatrical release beginning at Film Forum on Valentine’s Day, Janus Films has unveiled the new trailer and poster for the restoration.
Here’s the synopsis: “One of the masters of early German cinema, G. W. Pabst had an innate talent for discovering actresses (including Greta Garbo). And perhaps none of his female stars shone brighter than Kansas native and onetime Ziegfeld girl Louise Brooks, whose legendary persona was defined by Pabst’s lurid, controversial melodrama Pandora’s Box. Sensationally modern, the film follows the downward spiral of the fiery, brash, yet innocent showgirl Lulu, whose sexual vivacity has a devastating effect on everyone she comes in contact with. Daring and stylish, Pandora’s Box is one of silent cinema’s great masterworks and a testament to Brooks’s dazzling individuality. “
Restored from the best surviving 35mm elements at Haghefilm Conservation under the supervision of the Deutsche Kinemathek, with the cooperation of George Eastman Museum, and the collaboration of the Cinémathèque Française, Cineteca di Bologna, Czech Film Archive, and Gosfilmofond. Presented with support from the R.G. Rifkind Foundation Endowment for Queer Cinema.
See the trailer and poster below.
