A series of G.W. Pabst references that I’ve encountered recently (notably in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds) prompted me to see this, the Austrian directors signature film. American actress and sex symbol Louise Brooks plays Lulu, a character that comes from a series of plays on which the film is based. Lulu is ‘Pandora’s box’, without meaning to she unleashes chaos among the men (and one women in an early lesbian sub-plot) in her orbit, ultimately resulting in much suffering and death. Despite the significance of the film, and its strong statements about female sexuality and social dynamics in Germany between the wars, I find that I don’t have a lot to say about it, the two dulling film scholars who provide the Criterion collections audio commentary say it all (and then some). Still I recognize solid film making when I see it, and it was on the whole an interesting film to watch. So, grade: B.
Criterion release includes 1998 TCM documentary Louise Brooks: Looking for LuLu (Grade: B-)
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