Pandora's Box (1929)

Lulu, as her gradual demise unfolds, begins to lose the features that make her fascinating to men. During her transitional phase on the ship, she changes her captivating hairstyle.

In Pandora’s Box (1929), Pabst explores the anxieties and desires of the modern world through a female figure typical of the period. In contrast to Frank Wedekind’s plays, where Lulu (Louise Brooks) functions as a destructive force, Pabst renders her as an innocent woman who is largely oblivious to the consequences of her actions. The devastation that follows her, for the most part, stems from the unveiling of flaws the old world had to shield under the facade of civility and social norms.

Although Lulu is often described as a femme fatale, she lacks several defining traits of the archetype, most notably a malicious personality. Unlike the classic femme fatale, who typically manipulates the protagonist to achieve her objectives through deliberate schemes, Lulu lacks the sinister intent and foresight required for such sustained plotting.

In the scene, she returns home after the court, in response to Alwa’s (Francis Leferer) question about how she dared to return to the house, she responds with disarming candor, “Where else could I go?” This is not the calculated response a femme fatale might think to justify her self-serving action. The original play, however, offers a contrasting perspective by demonstrating Lulu's inherent destructive nature. Thus, Pabst converts a brief scene anticipating the challenges Lulu will encounter following a public scandal into an exposé, exploring the mechanisms society has learned to use scandal to marginalize those who defy the established norms.

The theater scene is the ultimate illustration of the clash between the two worlds. It begins with Schon's (Fritz Kortner) and Charlotte’s (Daisy D’Ora) arrival at the theater.  They have come to watch entertainment, not a play by Ibsen or Schiller. The nature of the performance suggests the potential presence of two conflicting classes: a high middle class presented by Schon and Charlotte, and a lower class presented by entertainment artists. Pabst develops the scene entirely backstage.  The scene also exposes the clashing worlds that build Schon’s life.  As an editor, he uses the stage as a public arena to demonstrate his commitment to order and civility, while in his private life, driven by his irresistible desire for Lulu’s allure, he surrenders to the chaos of the modern world. In moments of intimacy, he gravitates toward Lulu; yet in public, bound by his social role, he suppresses this desire and conforms to convention.

London’s foggy and claustrophobic streets stand in opposition to the bright world of Berlin. Her demise is visually underscored by the replacement of the artfully decorated Berlin apartment with a squalid London attic; the impoverished space cannot offer protection against the brutal cold temperature outside. Like Lulu, Jack the Ripper tends to subvert narrative expectations by creating disturbing contradictions. This volatility undermines the story's moral framework, forcing the characters to revisit their assumptions about the nature of evil. In the end, both characters resist the conventional good-versus-evil dichotomy.