Risselada Blog

Under discussion:

Behind the Screen: Stories of Cinema - Lulu in Berlin  (1985)

Pandora's Box  (1929)

Lulu in Berlin

Yet another film found in the special features of the Criterion Collection DVD release of Pandora's Box.  Filmmaker Richard Leacock managed to hunt down Louise Brooks sometime in the 70's when she was very recluse and not apt to communicate with the public at all much less do a filmed interview.  I guess Leacock was able to forge a small friendship and sort of woo her into letting him take a camera into her apartment to ask her some questions.  Well here is the result.  Leacock himself is a bit strange, but so is Books, so it's no surprise.  It's a pretty simple and static interview.  Only of major interest if you find yourself glued to the words of Louise Brooks.  She's clearly an intelligent woman with a good memory.  Her view on herself and some things in the past are a bit curious.  But sometimes the interview can get rather boring for my taste.

Rating: 5/10

Under discussion:

Pandora's Box  (1929)

This blog entry is part of my "movie year countdown round #2".  Read more about that here.

Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora's Box)

Louise Brooks is a famous figure.  Even if you've never seen any of her films, you would probably recognize her face as a kind of icon.  Even if you weren't sure exactly what it was an icon for.  She was "rediscovered" several decades after her heyday as an icon for all kinds of things from feminism to fashion.  The character of Lulu from this film is her most iconic role.

The capriciousness of the characters was sometimes aggravating, even though I could understand how all of the men in the film (and some women) would fall for her.  You can't take your eyes off her.  She is sexy no doubt.  But her actions and men's reactions are just so frustrating!  If the film is making the case for the fact that Lulu is just kind the kind of girl that even though she has a kind of innocence will bring down the lives of everyone around her with her sexuality and there is no stopping it, I don't really want to indulge in that too long.  Maybe in a world without Christ's redemption this can be true, and there are a lot of great films that show the depravity and tragedy of a world without Christ's salvation, but the specific focus of this film was a little too grating on me.

A good film that is still far from greatness for me.

Rating: 7/10