Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

“Albert Lewin’s gloriously Technicolor modern myth Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is almost unique — a staid yet outlandish star-vehicle that is also an exercise in by the book surrealism.

Based on the legend that inspired Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman,” Pandora has the doomed-to-wander sea captain cast anchor off the coast of a picturesque Spanish town, circa 1930. On shore and mad with desire, the men of the expat community are metaphorically sipping champagne from the slipper of the Indiana-born American singer, Pandora Reynolds (Gardner).

One hapless suitor kills himself, another demonstrates his adoration by pushing a beloved racing car off a cliff. Moments after agreeing to marriage, Pandora spots the mysterious yacht and impetuously dives into the sea. Swimming nude to the boat, she discovers its sole occupant, a dourly enigmatic Dutchman (James Mason), painting her portrait.

An arrogant matador (Mario Cabré, a former torero who had an onset affair with Gardner) further complicates the plot as the various love stories unfold amid a clutter of surrealist bric-a-brac — disembodied hands entwined in a tangled fisherman’s net, a racing car speeding past a headless Greek statue, a geometric chess set designed by Lewin’s friend Man Ray (who also painted Gardner’s portrait).” J Hoberman, New York Times

Newly restored in conjunction with the George Eastman House and The Film Foundation.

March 19: Introduction from Ashley Daniel Foot (Senior Manager, Partnerships and Engagement, Vancouver Opera) speaking about Vancouver Opera’s upcoming event, Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman.

Watching this film is like entering a strange and wonderful dream.

Martin Scorsese

Passionate, classical, mysterious and surreal all at once.

Trevor Johnston, Time Out