Sunday, September 24, 2017

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, screens thrice in England

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks as the immortal Lulu, will be shown in England in the coming months on a few occasions. Details can be found HERE on the Silent London site, and below. Additional dates in England and Scotland are to be announced. Stay tuned.



First up, the film will be shown in London on November 19 at the British Film Institute. This special event at National Film Theater 1 (located at BFI Southbank) features live piano accompaniment and an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson, author of a forthcoming BFI Film Classics book on Pandora’s Box. More information and time and ticket availability may be found HERE

According to the BFI website, "Lulu (the wonderful Louise Brooks) breaks hearts and causes chaos in this 1928 silent classic: Pandora’s Box is a film ‘that bears repeated viewing and obsessive scrutiny’ (Bryony Dixon, ‘100 Silent Films’). Here is a good moment to re-view Pabst’s classic tale of the ammoral Lulu – played beautifully, in every sense, by Louise Brooks – on the occasion of Pamela Hutchinson’s new BFI Classic which challenges assumptions made about the film and its star by previous generations."



Pandora's Box will also be shown in Bristol on November 24. This special event, hosted by South West Silents, will take place at the Cube Microplex (BS2 8 Bristol, United Kingdom). Time and ticket availability may be found HERE. The film will show from a 35mm film print from the National Film and Television Archive with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney, and will feature an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson.


According to the South West Silents website, "G.W. Pabst’s 1929 silent masterpiece Pandora’s Box stars Louise Brooks in the role that secured her place as one of the immortal goddesses of the silver screen. This controversial, and in its day heavily censored, film is regularly ranked in the Top 100 films of all time (including Cahiers du Cinema and Sight & Sound). Brooks is unforgettable as Lulu (Louise Brooks), a sexy, amoral dancer who creates a trail of devastation as she blazes through Weimar-era Berlin, breaking hearts and destroying lives. From Germany, she flies to France, and finally to London, where tragedy strikes. This stunning photographed film is loosely based on the controversial Lulu plays by Frank Wedekind, and also features one of the cinema’s earliest lesbian characters." 



Hardly a week later, Pandora's Box will be shown again in London on December 3 at Phoenix Cinema (52 High Rd, East Finchley, London N2 9PJ). Time and ticket availability may be found HERE. The film will feature a live piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne, as well as an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson..  

According to the Phoenix Cinema website, "A free-loving, status-climbing dancer takes up with a succession of lovers, gradually descending to the life of a streetwalker, and thus, her own doom. Lulu (Louise Brooks) lives beyond the constraints of time - she is a radiant, outrageous icon of modernity. In challenging moral conventions with depth and complexity, she has become a screen seductress like no other. Directed by G.W. Pabst in 1929, Pandora's Box is an acknowledged masterpiece of sensual imagery and remains an astonishingly modern work of art.

The Phoenix is very pleased to be welcoming film historian and author Pamela Hutchinson, who has recently written a book on Pandora’s Box for the BFI Film Classics series: Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora’s Box, 1929), starring Hollywood icon Louise Brooks, is an established classic of the silent era. Pamela Hutchinson revisits and challenges many assumptions made about the film, its lead character and its star. Putting the film in historical and contemporary contexts, Hutchinson investigates how the film speaks to new audiences. She will be with us to introduce the film and will remain after the screening for an exclusive book signing."


More about the book, which is pictured below.


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