Pandora's Box and Louise Brooks

I had read that this was one of the best DVD's of the year. The Criterion Collection DVD of silent movie "Pandora's Box". And it is a true discovery. A great print of one of the great movies of all time. And it is not only a great movie but it also features what many consider the firt modern actress in cinema, Louise Brooks in an amazing perofromance so full of life and sexual energy that it is amazing to think that this movie was made in 1929. A tale of a woman who destroys the life of everyone around her, the movie is also a portrayal of life isn the carefree 1920's and of pre-Hitler Berlin.It is also the first cinema portrayal of a modern woman, independent, aware of her sexuality and not afraid of a world dominated by men.

But it is mostly about Louise Brooks, a Kansas-born actress who went to Holywood, was too independent for her own good, made two great movies in Germany, went back to Hollywood, refused to submit herself to the casting couch and retired from movies. Forgotten for 30 years (she even became a sales woman at Saks), she was rediscovered by French critics and staged a comeback in which she was finally recognized as one of the great actrsses of all time.

Ths is one great DVD.