July 27–August 3, 1995

critic pick|film

film

Pandora's Box

While the name might sound like the makings of a heavy metal show, Pandora's Box is actually a silver-screen delight with a twist — live accompaniment by silent film enthusiasts the Club Foot Orchestra.

The 1929 silent German classic was directed by the master of light and shadow, G.W. Pabst. Along with Fritz Lang (the director of the Peter Lorre shocker M ), Pabst created the joyless but oversexed illumination of German Expressionism that would mark American films from Orson Welles'Citizen Kane and The Lady From Shanghai to any number of grotesque film noir entries like Kiss Me Deadly or Detour. To say that Pabst is influential in his usage of shards of dramatic light, sharply defined angular settings and mystical, criminal shadows is like saying that Robert Johnson is sort of an influence on Eric Clapton.

As adapted from two plays of poet Frank Wedekind, Pandora's Box was one of the most controversial of its time. Immoral, dripping with scandalous sexuality like sadistic mayhem, lesbianism (Countess Anna Geschwits, as portrayed by German actress Alice Roberts, may be the silver screen's first lesbian) and prostitution, Pandora's Box eats up the screen and traditional values without regret or sorrow.

The primal sexuality in the film is due to the actress who plays Lulu, Louise Brooks. Discovered by Pabst in a small part in a Howard Hawkes film (and destined b y hardheadedness, and an unwillingness to play the "Hollywood" game, to rarely work beyond the 1930s), Brooks represents unrelenting and unremorseful sensuality, easily becoming the screen's first truly empowered woman. From the sharp bob of her raven bla ck hair to the pointiness of her lipliner to the devilish sparkle in her eye, Brooks lights up the screen every moment she's on it.

As for the Club Foot Orchestra, the 10-piece ensemble that accompanies the film, the band neatly plays into a newly blossomin g genre: guardians of silent screen music. Recently, avant jazz masters like Mark Dresser (on Knitting Factory Works) and Bill Frissell (on Elektra/Nonesuch) have tackled the works of directors Robert Wiene (Cabinet of Dr Caligari ) and Buster Keaton. The CFO have been reinventing silent musics for live performance since 1987 when they offered their own version of Caligari at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Under the musical direction of Richard Marriott and conducted by Deidre McClure, the ensemble has re-scored the music to some of the Buster Keaton videos like Sherlock Jr. (recently rereleased by Kino Video) as well as performing live scores for Fritz Lang's Metropolis and F.W. Murnau's horrific Nosferatu.

In jerky, repetitive Kurt-Weill-gone-Philip-Glass-via-Igor-Stravinsky fashion, the CFO manage to accompany the onscreen action while creating a sonic vibe that exists in a time and place is totally unique to the listener now.

Pandora's Box with original score composed and performed by the Club Foot Orches tra, Monday July 31 at 8 p.m. The Neighborhood Film and Video Project at International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Call 895-6542 for information.

—a.d. amorosi