7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
Starring: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis LedererForeign | 100% |
Drama | 45% |
Romance | 16% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Georg Wilhelm Pabst's "Pandora's Box" (1929) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Louise Brooks; archival documentary; archival audio commentary by film studies professors Thomas Elsaesser and May Ann Doane; new trailer; and more. With German intertitles and optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pandora's Box arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:
"This 2K restoration was created from three duplicate elements from the collections of Cinematheque francaise, Gosfilmofond, and Narodny filmovi archiv. Funder by Hugh M. Hefner, this restoration was a collaboration between the George Eastman Museum, Cinemathequa francaise, Cineteca di Bologna, Gosfilmofond, and Narodny filmovi archiv, and the Deutcshe Kimenathek - Museum fur Film and Fernsehen.
Restoration supervisor: Martin Koerber.
Restoration: Haghefilm Conservation BV, Amsterdam."
The release introduces a new 2K restoration, which as highlighted above is also a complex reconstruction job. I did several comparisons with Criterion's DVD release from 2006.
While certain surface imperfections remain, the overall quality of the visuals is much better, often even dramatically better. Why exactly? The improvements are in different areas, but are not consistent because of the condition of the elements that were used. Because of this, different areas look better, or much better, for different reasons. I am going to list several. For example, there are significant improvements in terms of image stability, so while some light jerkiness may be spotted in a few places, the constant image jumps and shifts from the previous presentation are gone. Delineation, clarity, and depth are superior. Fluctuations remain, and in some areas trained eyes will easily notice that content is merged from different sources, but there is just a lot more to see now. All visuals, even the most problematic ones, have a superior organic appearance. In fact, this is probably the most significant improvement because the entire film now looks like film. The previous presentation gives it a video-ish quality. The grayscale of the visuals is much better, too. Shadow nuances, other darker nuances, and all kinds of different highlights look significantly better. While uneven grain is better exposed and resolved as well. So, considering the history and available materials, I think that the new 2K restoration is an all-around winner.
There are four standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (for the orchestral score), DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (for the cabaret score), DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (for the modern orchestral score), and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (for the piano improvisation score). Optional English subtitles are provided for the German intertitles.
I am little surprised that no one bothered to create a modern, perhaps electronic, soundtrack for Pandora's Box, considering how influential the film has become among younger viewers. The four scores listed above are interesting, but I think that all of them are underwhelming in different ways. I stayed the most with the piano score, though in the latter stages of the film, where the drama intensifies, in some areas the harmonies became too abstract. All four tracks reproduce studio recordings, so their dynamic ranges vary in different ways. The modern orchestral score seems to be the most diverse one.
They say that the Weimar Republic was a place that frequently revealed striking contrasts and eventually collapsed under the weight of its decadence. There is plenty of evidence that the former is true, but I am unsure about the latter. Some of these contrasts define the reality in which Lulu exists, and what I find most interesting is that many of them are replicated in our reality. So, even though Pandora's Box comes from the silent era, it is a film that can easily connect with younger viewers who typically avoid silent films. Criterion's Blu-ray release introduces a wonderful new 2K restoration that makes it possible to experience Pandora's Box in an entirely new way. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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