Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Pandora's Box (1929)

In this series, we look at movies from all over the cinematic time line and select a shot that particularly resonates with us, be it for aesthetic, thematic or for simple eye candy reasons. Join us!

This week we gaze lustily at...

PANDORA'S BOX

This is not a sex scene but a temper tantrum.
okay okay, it becomes a sex scene.

It's an easy thing to do. I've seen this 1929 silent (the original title is Die Büchse der Pandora) four times now and each time I'm startled anew at its carnality. It's one of the most erotic movies ever made and not just for the provoactive subject matter which follows the gradual undoing of one Lulu (Louise Brooks), a wild thing who marries up before bringing everyone down; director G.W. Pabst and cinematographer Günther Krampf partner with Brooks in continually fetishizing Lulu's porcelain flesh, painted lips, and erotic abandon.

In fact, there are so many vigorous closeups of men grabbing at Brooks' smooth arms or shaking her with a closeup of barely clad breasts and still more long shots which make her all legs or break up her body with visible obstacles (usually men) that the film runs the risk of dehumanizing her. She is doll parts. But Brooks saves the film from any exploitative quality with the full humanity of one of the all time great silent performances. The Look she gives her eventual husband's fiance when they're caught in the act, is one of the most salacious things you'll ever see. Brooks understands that Lulu is capable of self awareness and smug ownership of her inner floozy. But Brooks is not, to the film's infinite benefit, content to play merely one horny or bitchy note. She makes Pandora, excuse me Lulu, a treasure chest full of contradictions, emotions, and often curious or self destructive impulses.

this is not a sex scene but a death in progress.
it was meant to be a sex scene (wedding night)

Because of the time frame in which Louise Brooks performed, she's often discussed in conjunction with the Garbos and the Swansons. But one of the things she does with Lulu is more in keeping with what Marilyn Monroe was so famous for, despite the two actresses being nothing alike in shape, persona or acting style. She believably gifts her character with both fully developed sexuality and surprising innocence.

There is so much to say about Pandora's Box -- one could write a book! But like the movie men in her thrall, I can't look away from Brooks for even a second to delve into them. Her starpower is so overwhelming one merely succumbs. Brooks is exhilarating, Lulu is exhausting.

this is not a sex scene but a farewell.

the farewell is on account of it not being a sex scene.

Even her step son Alwa is pussy whipped. He just collapses into her lap on her wedding night. It's my choice for the film's best shot. It's gorgeously lit, capturing the sensual beauty of flesh, satin gowns, manly curls and erotic connection. Lulu loves Alwa, too... in her way. This is also a key moment in the storytelling. Lulu's husband (and Alwa's father) is about to enter the frame from the left with a gun in hand. The husband/father has already shown an odd habit of passing Lulu on to his son while warning him against her. We're only 40 minutes into the movie and this odd dynamic is about to occur again

Like many noirs that followed Pandora's Box into cinemas over the next two decades, the movie can be read as a nightmare sexist parable about the dangers of female sexuality. But Pandora's Box is modern enough in content and star performance and complex enough in mise-en-scène to offer up alternative readings. There are so many disturbing shots of men fondling and chasing money with as much fervor as they pursue Lulu, that you could just as easily read it as a nightmare parable about the dangers of insatiable male greed.

Again, you could write a book. If you haven't seen the movie, I can't recommend it highly enough. A

Lulu's Other Men

• Against the Hype, who has been a passionate and faithful participant in this series, celebrates Lulu's impulsive behavior and utter inability to predict the future. I can predict the future: Colin will have a great experience at college seeing all the amazing films he's jotted down.
• Pussy Goes Grrrr even uses Lulu as their longtime banner beauty
  
• Serious Film stares and stares at that salacious look I described earlier and ponders its prismatic wonder. It's a beautiful write-up on the power of star acting.
• Movies Kick Ass looks at Lulu twice, the static painted Lulu and the ever-changing physical version. Pabst uses art in such interesting ways in this movie. Again... you could write a book!
• Stale Popcorn can't choose but gladly jumps backwards in time for the " 'classic' because it's good, not 'classic' because it's old" Hit Me With Your Best Shot films.
  

 Other Films in This Series

• Angels in America (2003)
• X-Men (2000)
• Showgirls (1995)
• Bring It On (2000)
• Black Narcissus (1946)
• A Face in the Crowd (1957)
• Se7en (1995) 
• Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Robert Gives Thanks

I love slow movies. Really slow. For the longest time I thought everyone else considered that word to signify the worst in movies. Slow meant bad enough to put you to sleep. I love movies that put me to sleep. I’ve a whole collection of movies that I can pop in the DVD player whenever I can’t sleep and they’ll do the trick. If we can agree that music peaceful enough to put you to sleep can still be great, why not movies?

So this year I’m thankful for slow movies. But I’m also thankful for others who love them, because together we inspire filmmakers to keep making them. Great modern films like Goodbye, Solo and The Assassination of Jesse James..., and The Band’s Visit and Silent Light.

I’m thankful that cinema hasn’t been completely overrun by the desire to make anything but “boring” when too often films that are poetic, relaxing, serene, and contemplative are given that most terrible of labels.

I’m also thankful for Studio Ghibli, Charlie Chaplin, Mumbecore films, Faye Wong in Wong Kar Wai movies, Maria Falconetti , Charlie Kaufman, the masculinity of John Huston, the Iranian New Wave, Max Von Sydow (who looks like my grandfather), Fellini in the 1980’s, everything that comes out of Werner Herzog’s mouth, the modern Documentary movement, Louise Brooks and her hair, and Jude Law’s last line in A.I. “I am, I was!”

Birthday Suits: Good Hair, and Good Music.

Celebrating the birthdays of the film-famous. If it's your birthday, we'll sing you a happy one in the comments.

Louise Brooks, Veronica Lake and Josh Duhamel

1906 Louise Brooks, dancer, silent film actress, icon, quotable diva, film critic, memoirist, ...Lost Girl, Lulu. Her hair is legend.
1908 Joseph McCarthy, he saw only Red(s). He's been a villainous figure in movies ever since, whether seen, unseen or fictionalized. See: Guilty by Suspicion, The Way We Were, The Manchurian Candidate, Good Night, and Good Luck. and many more...
1919 Veronica Lake, femme fatale, purveyor of the peek-a-boo bang (her hair also being legend). Kim Basinger didn't even have to get "cut" to look like this goddess in LA Confidential. She just had to sell those glorious blonde waves.
1945 Paul Hirsch, editor of Carrie, Star Wars (Oscar win), Ferris Bueller's Day Off and more...
1951 Zhang Yimou, fine director, awesome goddess worshipper. Think of what he did for both Zhang Ziyi (Hero, The House of Flying Daggers) and Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, Shanghai Triad)
1952 Chris Noonan, writer/director of the wondrous Babe (1995)
1954 Condoleeza Rice, crazy person. Also played crazily by Thandie Newton in W.
1972 Josh Duhamel actor often seen being chased by giant fucking robots and/or Fergie

How is this for a weird coincidence? Leopold Mozart and Johann van Beethoven were both born on this day in the 18th century. They would go on to father enormously important children. Their offspring are none other than immortal and beloved composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. There have been countless films about musicians over the years and there will be countless more -- silent purists may argue but music was a good match for the movies -- but in this particular arena will anything ever top Amadeus 's enviable success trifecta: critical/commercial/Oscar?

Classic Film Stars: Now Less Elusive!

Have you heard the news that Warner Bros has opened up their vaults? Seems at least one of the major studios has realized that those who truly love the cinema love the entire history of it. They'd like to see more of that history.

Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery live Private Lives but they
still want to show off their brand new DVD collections!

There's a reason that some former mega stars (Norma Shearer is a good example) fade in the public consciousness quicker than others. Actually there are many reasons: changing tastes, mediocre filmographies, undramatic personal lives -- especially if they don't end tragically, pop culture's rapid "who's next?" star meat grinder, lack of gay appeal (think about it: fascinating the gays insures a long shelf life for entertainers. I don't think I need to cite examples... they've probably popped into your head just reading that sentence). But I'm thinking of the most infuriating reason for premature fading: sometimes their work just isn't seen.

Part of that is public disinterest in film history (Boo!) but a lot of it is Hollywood's weird disinterest in their own history. They'd rather remake an old film than promote the previous best of their industry. I know that it all boils down to money but in an industry filled with so many "creatives" you'd think more of them would funnel some cash back into film preservation and film history education and promotion. It stands to reason that if everything was available, some titles and stars would not remain as obscure. Surely the renaissance of interest in Louise Brooks was fueled at least partially by Pandora's Box VHS release.

Starry titles now available include: a few from both Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, Liv Ullman in The Abdication, Spencer Tracy in Malaya and Edison the Man, Warren Beatty and Eva Marie Saint in All Fall Down (the tagline is too funny on that one... "male enough to attract a dozen women... not man enough to be faithful to one!"), Greta Garbo in both Love and Wild Orchids, Cary Grant in Mr. Lucky and Crisis, Greer Garson in Sunrise at Campobello. Shearer herself gets at least three titles: Strange Interlude, Private Lives and We Were Dancing... though it's hard to say exactly since the archive isn't very user friendly. It's not searchable in convenient ways.


As I continued reading the articles about this and scanned the archive I realized that the whole thing is less juicy than it sounds. Only 150ish titles are now available within this new "custom order" dealio. The Warner library is nearly 7,000 films strong and according to the AP

Twenty more films or TV shows will be added to the program of re-releases each month, with 300 expected by year's end. To put it in perspective, the studio has released only about 1,100 movies on DVD since the technology was spawned 12 years ago.

While I'm glad that this is happening, I'm also disappointed that it's so tentative. They haven't so much opened the vault as installed a mail slot in the wall by which they can shove a few DVDs through when they feel like it. Cinephilia needs its own Moses to storm the studios with righteous fury "Let My Movies Go!"
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Shot?

The New Lulu?

Did Johnny Depp unknowingly start a new Lulu trend when he did Willy Wonka a few years ago? Hmmmm.... We'll keep an eye out. (Jonathan)

Top Ten: Movie Hookers

tuesday top ten: a weekly series for the list lover in you and the list maker in me

Susan of Awards Daily here again, with my final guest post, the "Tuesday Top Ten." Thanks to Nathaniel, my co-guest bloggers and the Film Experience readers.

This week's countdown focuses on a subject that's been in the news lately, especially for those of us in New York. That’s right, those short-skirted, high-heeled and gold-hearted dames (and dudes) who practice the "oldest profession" in the world: Hookers


Top Ten Movie Hookers

10 “Lana” in Risky Business (1983): Need quick cash while your folks are out of town (especially after trashing dad's Porsche)? Why not turn your house into a brothel? You know it's a teenage fantasy when the prostitute looks like Rebecca De Mornay. And the john is a young, dances-in-his-undies Tom Cruise.
Emperor’s Club or Street: Would probably command Emperor’s Club rates today.
Heart of Gold? More like head for business.

09 "Luenell" in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006): Actress/comedian Luenell Campbell makes the "perfect" dinner party date for the Kazakh reporter. She's also one of the few performers in on the joke.
Emperor’s Club or Street: Definitely street.
Heart of Gold? Yes.

08 "Vivian" in Pretty Woman (1990): Julia Roberts' breakthrough role had her sashaying down Hollywood Boulevard and into Richard Gere’s fancy car, hotel suite, bed, bath and ... beyond.
Emperor’s Club or Street: While she works it on the street, her weekly rate comes to $3,000. That’s far below the hourly rates of the Emperor’s Club, but one must consider inflation.
Heart of Gold? Yes. And by the end of the film, she's got the credit cards to match.

(tie) 07 “Mike” in My Own Private Idaho (1991): River Phoenix never seemed more vulnerable than when he played this young, narcoleptic street hustler.
Emperor's Club or Street: Street, but only in this film.
Heart of Gold? Yes.

(tie) 07 “Lynn” in L.A. Confidential (1997): Kim Basinger’s Veronica Lake look-alike prostitute manages to make both Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce swoon. Not bad.
Emperor’s Club or Street: Emperor’s Club, and unlike the other "starlet" hookers, she didn't need to get "cut" to achieve the Lake look.
Heart of Gold: Yes, especially when it comes to Crowe's troubled cop. (Can't say I blame her.)

06 “Linda” aka "Judy Cum" in Mighty Aphrodite (1995): Oscar winner Mira Sorvino adapts a voice that could cut through glass as the prostitute/porn star mother of Woody Allen's adopted child. The performance grates on the nerves until it wins you over.
Emperor’s Club or Street: She looks like she should be in the Emperor’s Club, but sounds Street. Bonus points for good genes.
Heart of Gold? Yes. And based on her porn credits, she also has an Enchanted Pussy.

(tie) 05 “Simone” in Mona Lisa (1986): Cathy Tyson portrays a high-priced call girl who forms a unique bond with her paid driver, the blokey George, (the wonderful Bob Hoskins). A sleek and disturbing film.
Emperor’s Club or Street: Emperor’s Club with Street ties.
Heart of Gold? She’s a little too complicated to pigeonhole.


(tie) 05 "Bai Ling" in 2046 (2004): The breathtaking Ziyi Zhang can win the lust, but not the love of her neighbor (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) when she moves into room 2046. The film never explicitly states that she's a prostitute, but it's implied.
Emperor's Club: She's just working out of her apartment, but everything about this character is Emperor's Club.
Heart of Gold? Not in the traditional sense, but definitely more vulnerable than she'd like to be.

04 “Ophelia” in Trading Places (1983): Jamie Lee Curtis shows off that “Perfect” 80s bod and manages to keep pace with the comic talents of Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.
Emperor’s Club or Street: She’s street in the movie, but that’s only in a movie.
Heart of Gold? Definitely.

03 “Severine” in Belle de Jour (1967): Ah, marriage, soooooo mundane. That's one reason to take up an afternoon hobby as a prostitute. The ridiculously beautiful Catherine Deneuve is frigid, damaged and only able to connect with herself within the fantasy of "Belle de Jour."
Emperor’s Club or Street: Her rates are probably closer to being Street, but she's definitely Emperor's Club material.
Heart of Gold? Who can tell, it's surrounded by ice.

02 “Satine” in Moulin Rouge! (2001): Nicole Kidman broadly plays the “sparkling diamond,” at first, and then reveals the woman inside. Still, truth, beauty, freedom and (above all things) love are definitely held on a pedestal, and that’s where the tragic Satine remains.
Emperor’s Club or Street: Definitely Emperor’s Club--or in this case, The Duke's Club.
Heart of Gold? Yes. Unfortunately, her lungs are made of less durable material.

01 “Lulu” in Pandora’s Box (1929): As the doomed prostitute in this silent classic, stunning Louise Brooks launched herself, her iconic hairdo, and perhaps the prototype of the sexually liberated woman (who must pay the price for her freedom), into the cinema consciousness.
Emperor’s Club or Street: Emperor’s Club--she's a screen Goddess.
Heart of Gold? Uncertain, as Brooks is too enigmatic to define.


What ladies (or gentlemen) of the night would you pay for?
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Is Louise's soup too hot?

too cold?

...or just right?