NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (October 2024): Criterion have also transferred Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Pandora's Box to Blu-ray. It is also cited as being "from a definitive 2K digital restoration".

Opening screens are different (slightly different translations +) and are in English:

"Pandora's Box premiered in Berlin on February 9, 1929. It was not a success at the time and only earned acclaim in the 1950s with the reemergence of actor Louise Brooks, whose films were championed by ardent admirers such as Henri Langlois of the Cinémathèque française and James Card of the George Eastman Museum.

No original negative nor original print of the film is known to exist. What survives today is the result of inferior duplication completed in the fifties and sixties, struck from severely damaged material full of technical imperfections that seemed to be photographically inscribed forever.

The only way to even attempt to restore the original beauty of director G. W. Pabst's images was to apply digital tools. The three versions known to exist―a 1952 duplication from the collections of the Cinémathèque française in Paris, a 1970 duplication from Gosfilmofond in Russia, and a 1964 duplication made by the Národní filmový archiv in Prague-have been made available thanks to the cooperation of these archives and the Cineteca di Bologna.

Through a combination of these three elements, it has been possible to restore the continuity of Pabst's famously fluid editing by filling in the gaps where frames or scenes were missing. Compositing tools were used to match grading, image position, and photographic characteristics among the different versions to the best ability of modern technology. Still, some damage and traces of time remain.

New 35 mm preservation negatives and prints, as well as digital presenta- tion materials, have been created from the restored version.

The editing of the restoration very closely follows the work print already established in the 1980s by Enno Patalas at the Munich Filmmuseum. The text of the intertitles was taken from a list in German found in the archives of the Swedish Office of Film Censorship at Riksarkivet in Stockholm."

NOTE: We have added 64 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

There are some subtle, and not-so-subtle, differences between the 2024 Criterion Blu-ray and the 2023 Masters of Cinema. Firstly the image; Criterion have done their magic and the contrast is back to being far more black + white. No 'sfumato' appearance as found on the Masters of Cinema from last year. This is quite an improvement.

Two other things:

1) Alice Roberte name continues to be misspelled Alice Roberts in the opening credits:

(CLICK BOTH to ENLARGE)

2) The 'missing coins' have returned on the Criterion Blu-ray (they were removed by the digital clean-up as transferred on the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray):

Another is the running time. The Criterion is about 6.5 minutes longer. Even excluding the restoration text screens (also on the Masters of Cinema) this is probably a frame-rate disparity. Perhaps the Criterion is running it at the restoration-suggested twenty-frames per second and the MoC was at twenty-four. I will investigate this further.

Also of significance is that Criterion have included the four optional scores as on their 2006 2-disc DVD: These are the exquisite orchestral score by Peer Raben (Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz Despair, plus Tenderness of the Wolves, The Marriage of Maria Braun, In a Year with 13 Moons) but in 5.1 surround. They also add options (in lossless stereo) for scores by conductor and musicologist Gillian Anderson, award-winning composer and pianist Dimitar Pentchev, and French jazz pianist and composer Stéphan Oliva. A wealth of riches. The scores (a Weimar Republic-era Cabaret approximation, modern and piano improvisation) add different tones and mood shifts to the viewing so every presentation adds another layer. Criterion have German Intertitles with optional English subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.   

The commentary by Thomas Elsaesser (Fassbinder's Germany: History, Identity, Subject) and Mary Ann Doane (Femmes Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis) is repeated from the DVD package - sharing significant information in a matter-of-fact manner. They work perfectly together although rarely comment on the same segment. When they do they support each other with salient comments. Elsaesser discusses the relationship between literature and the cinema. Doane shares some of her expert knowledge of Louise Brooks and the narrative. Repeated from the older DVD set are the 60-minute documentary by Hugh Munro Neeley entitled Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu (1998). It is in 5 sections: "Lulu in Toe Shoes"; "Lulu in Hollywood"; "Lulu in Berlin"; "Lulu in Hell"; and "Resurrection". Narrated by Shirley MacLaine and featuring numerous interviews with friends and relatives of the legendary star including Dana Delany, Roddy McDowall, Roseanna Brooks etc. - it also contains excerpts from many of her films including her first on-screen appearance. There is also the rare, 48-minute interview with Louise Brooks by documentarian Richard Leacock (The Feeling of Being There - A Filmmaker's Memoir) and Susan Steinberg Woll from 1971. Further interviews are included with with Leacock, about Brooks, and Michael Pabst the director's son. There is a substantial A 98-page book with photos and featuring Kenneth Tynan's (Profiles) 1979 essay "The Girl in the Black Helmet," an article by Louise Brooks on her relationship with Pabst, and a new essay by critic J. Hoberman (The Dream Life: Movies, Media, And The Mythology Of The Sixties.)

Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Pandora's Box is a Weimar German cinema masterwork - although in the director's 'New Objectivity' period - a counter to expressionism. In 1921 there was an earlier screen adaptation of Pandora's Box by Arzén von Cserépy with Danish star Asta Nielsen in the role of Lulu. With her bangs like a shiny black helmet Louise Brooks projects a pure, almost innocently exotic, sexuality, devoid of pretense. Her playful dancing helped convey her character's naturalistic sensibilities. There was no one like her onscreen. Timeless. It made her the stuff of cinema legend. The interest in Pandora's Box runs from a seamless spectrum from prostitution and lesbianism to the terror of Jack the Ripper. It is easily one of the classics of Weimar Germany's cinema, along with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis, The Last Laugh, and The Blue Angel. The Criterion Blu-ray with improved transfer, expert commentary, documentary, interviews and booklet is a must-own - worthy of a double-dip even without new supplements. It, undoubtedly, will receive end of year ballots in our poll. A huge keeper for me.

***

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (September 2023): Masters of Cinema have transferred Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Pandora's Box to Blu-ray. It is cited as being "from a definitive 2K digital restoration".

Opening screens, in German with optional English subtitles, inform us:

"The editing of the film was funded as part of the digitization campaign of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media based on a resolution by the German Bundestag.

Pandora's Box premiered in Berlin on February 9th, 1929 and was not a huge success at the time. The film only became famous after Louise Brooks was rediscovered in the 1950s by her admirers Henri Langlois of the cinémathèque francaise and James Card of the George Eastman House. As far as is known, neither the original negative nor a copy from the time it was made has survived. The only copies available today are from the 1950s and 1960s, made from heavily damaged material.

The only way to show Pabst's images back to anything close to their original beauty was digital editing. For this purpose, we were given the three versions of the film that have survived - a duplicate negative made in 1952 from the cinémathèque francaise, a recopy from 1970 by Gosfilmofond of Russia, and the 1964 copy from the Närodni Filmovj, archive in Prague - from the aforementioned archives and the Cineteca di Bologna made accessible. By combining these three materials, it was possible to recreate the image sequence of Pabst's famous flowing montage and to reinstate missing image frames and scenes as much as possible. With the help of digital image processing, an attempt was made to bring the photographic characteristics of the various materials closer together in such a way that a coherent overall impression was created. However, some damage and traces of time had to remain in the material as they were currently uncorrectable.

New 35mm backup negatives and copies were made from the restored version and a digital cinema version was created. The montage follows very closely the working copy that Enno Patalas made in the Munich Film Museum in the 1980s. The text of the intertitles comes from a list that Gero Gandert was able to find in Riksarkivet, Sweden. Recommended demonstration speed: 20 fps."

We compared the Criterion and Second Sight DVDs in 2006, HERE. The 1080P, with approaching 5 X the bitrate of the Criterion SD transfer, image look somewhat sepia, with almost muddied contrast beside the previous DVDs. I got used to this, almost, 'sfumato' appearance. I don't know if this is more correct but the higher resolution does wonders for the film's textures. Despite the restoration, there remain patches of wear, light damage and inconsistencies. I enjoyed my HD presentation very much. 

NOTE: My buddy David sent me this quote from the Nitrateville Forum of an error:

"The mistake: When Lulu stuffs some money into the meter reader's hand, he is so distracted that he lets two coins drop onto the carpet and doesn't even realize it. The digital clean-up software registered those two falling coins as defects and erased them. So we do not see anything fall out of his hand.

Also, as with so many editions dating all the way back to the December 1929 Manhattan première, the name Alice Roberte continues to be misspelled Alice Roberts.

There are only three surviving elements on this film, none of them original, all of them severely compromised. Martin Koerber and his team went far beyond the call of duty to try to minimize the printed-in buckling and focus drift, and that's quite an impressive feat, but that single defect in the first scene upset me too much to want to continue viewing the video."

and another:

"Eureka/MoC merely licensed the restoration and would not be able to make corrections. They got what they paid for and that was the end of that. I did alert Martin Koerber, though. Whether he and his colleagues might be in a position to correct this fault in future releases, I do not know. The master file would include the raw scan and so it would be easy enough to bring the coins back in, but would there ever be an opportunity? By the way, I once sat in on a review session at Paramount, and so I saw how tricky it is to outwit the software, especially in a film with which the technicians are not intimately familiar.

As for reviewing the remainder of the disc, would it make a difference? If someone from the restoration team is interested, yes, I shall review the video, happily, enthusiastically. Otherwise, I don't see why I should bother."

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) for Pandora's Box supporting the exquisite orchestral score by Peer Raben Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz Despair, plus Tenderness of the Wolves, The Marriage of Maria Braun, In a Year with 13 Moons.) It supports the film so well and sounds crisp via the uncompressed transfer. Exceptional. Masters of Cinema have German Intertitles with optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray offers a new commentary by critic Pamela Hutchinson. She discusses Frank Wedekind's Lulu and his preoccupation with sexuality, the story and the film's tension between pleasure-seeking hedonism and sex work. She discusses the cast, crew and notably Georg Wilhelm Pabst - his use of adjoining spaces, lighting etc., Pamela tells us her own favorite act (the third) and why plus a lot more. There is speculation of a lesbian subtext with an attraction of Countess Augusta Geschwitz, sporting a tuxedo in one casino scene, to Lulu. Pamela's commentary is excellent - extremely well researched and paced for the lengthy film. There is also a new, 20-minute, visual appreciation by author and critic Kat Ellinger entitled The New Woman and the Jazz Age - The Dangerous Feminine in Pandora's Box. She describes what differentiates Georg Wilhelm Pabst's film from other archetypes and that it encourage alternate readings. There is an excellent video essay by David Cairns, entitled Godless Beasts, running 18-minutes. It starts with the lines that begin Frank Wedekind's 1895 play Erdgeist ("Earth Spirit") and I found it had highly interesting observations. There is also a new video essay by Fiona Watson entitled Lulu in Wonderland, also running around 20-minutes. It focuses on the life and career of Louise Brooks; sexual abuse, alcohol addiction and a series of bad relationships. It's highly informative. Lastly is a 9-minute video piece; Restoring Pandora's Box with Martin Koerber details the restoration and the extensive process that it took. The package offers a 60-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Alexandra Heller Nicholas, Imogen Sara Smith, and Richard Combs; alongside archival stills and imagery

Gary Tooze