La Ronde
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Movie Reviews of La Ronde
Movie Review: La Ronde is a wonderful mixture of anticipation, pleasure and rue. It might even make you think wisdom could be involved
Summary: 5 Stars
"What is still missing for love to start its rounds? A waltz...and here it is. The waltz turns. The carousel turns...and the merry-go-round of love can begin turning, too."
If Le Plaisir is a clever study in how pleasure can lead to despair, hopelessness and, fortunately, more pleasure, and if Madame D... is a masterpiece of love's elegant sadness, perhaps La Ronde can be seen as a carousel of pleasure, where men and women's most natural instinct is celebrated with joy and infidelity.
Max Ophuls' La Ronde is a wonderful mixture of anticipation, pleasure and rue. It might even make you think wisdom could be involved. We're now in Vienna in 1900, a world of waltz, where lovers change lovers until we come back full circle. This delightful waltz includes counts, maids, actresses, soldiers, poets, prostitutes and married couples. Thanks to our host and escort, played by Anton Walbrook, we are not simply observers. We're complicit. "I am you," he tells us, "the personification of your desire to know everything."
On this carousel of pleasure, amusingly disguised for some as love, we can savor both the situations and the actors that Max Ophuls has given us. Ophuls is the master chef, but it is the likes of Danielle Darrieux, Jean-Louis Barrault, Simone Simon, Simone Signoret, Gerard Philipe and all the rest who keep this soufflé from falling. And speaking of falling, one of the most amusing and endearing episodes is our host encountering a momentary breakdown of the carousel, then fixing it in time for Daniel Gelin to continue with his waltz in the arms of Madame Breitkopf (Darrieux).
"True love is possible only where there is truth and purity" says Madame Breitkopf's husband to her in bed one evening, a few hours after her meeting with the young man played by Gelin. The next evening he'll meet the young girl he will make his mistress. Thank goodness truth and purity have little to do with pleasure, which needs only desire, a bit of self-delusion and a willingness not to learn from experience,
It's difficult to watch Madame D... without wanting to weep. It's difficult to watch La Ronde without wanting to smile. This is a movie to take delight in just as it is, without too much earnest analysis. Not the least of its charms is the recurring waltz, "Der Reigen" by Oscar Straus, which our lovers dance to in each other's arms.
The Criterion DVD looks just fine. The disc contains several extras, including an amusing interview with Daniel Gelin and a commentary with Ophuls specialist Susan White. By all means also buy the two other great Ophuls films Criterion has released: Earrings of Madame de... and Le Plaisir, and search out Lola Montes and The Reckless Moment (The Blank Wall) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ].
Movie Review: An Alltime Favorite On DVD At Last.
Summary: 5 Stars
This 1950 film was considered quite scandalous in its day especially in America. The essential premise of characters having sex without marriage shocked conservative moviegoers even though it was done with wit and style and doesn't show you anything improper. It was based on an 1897 play by Viennese doctor turned playwright Arthur Schnitzler called REIGEN which created even more of an uproar back then. Adolf Hitler considered it absolute filth.
I first saw this film back during my college days and dreamed of playing on stage the narrator who is interactive throughout the story. Imagine my surprise when I obtained an English copy of the play and discovered there was no narrator in it! The filmmaker had created the character to enhance the film and indeed he does. As played by Anton Walbrook (the impresario of THE RED SHOES), he is the epitome of Old World grace and charm and has the best lines as well. No wonder as he is supposed to be the alter ego of the director himself.
The title REIGEN (ring or circular movement) refers to the nature of the play where one character has sex with another who then has sex with someone else and so on until, coming full circle, it ends with a final character having sex with the first one. All of the encounters take place off camera and there are even amusing attempts by the narrator (who introduces each character) to occasionally censor the action. The symbol of this "circle of love" which occurs throughout the film is a carousel or merry-go-round.
The film was made by Max Ophuls, a German filmmaker who wound up in France by way of the United States. His films are famous for his continually moving camera and interesting visual compositions. He was reportedly Stanley Kubrick's favorite director. Aside from the Austrian born Walbrook, the film features the top French acting talent of the day including Danielle Darrieux, Jean-Louis Barrault, and just starting her career, Simone Signoret. The celebrated music, including the LA RONDE theme, was composed by Oscar Straus (no relation to Johann).
I could go on and on about this film but I'll restrain myself. The simplest thing for you to do is to go out and rent it to see for yourselves and I wouldn't be surprised if you wind up buying it. Of course it is "old-fashioned' filmmaking. It's in black and white, has elegant tracking shots, and is full of characters who have something to say (even if it's in French) which means its appeal will unfortunately be limited to those who prefer more "upscale" fare. Yet if you take the time to sit back and take it in (and that's important), then you'll be amply rewarded. It's a film you may find yourself returning to again and again. This Criterion edition is beyond reproach.
Movie Review: A French Lesson in Infidelity.
Summary: 5 Stars
It was a happy day when I first heard Criterion was finally releasing Max Ophüls' two great films, La Ronde and Earrings of Madame De. Ophüls is known for his brilliant tracking shots and elaborate camera movements (which influenced Stanley Kubrick). He is also known for his black-and-white French bedroom farce, La Ronde (1950), starring Anton Walbrook, Simone Signoret, and Gérard Philipe, based on Arthur Schnitzler's controversial 1897 play, Reigen. (Adolf Hitler considered Schnitzler's play obscene for its depiction of the sexual morals and class ideology of its day. Schnitzler, a doctor, recognized that syphilis was not limited to certain layers of Viennese society.) La Ronde ("The Roundabout") follows a series of stories about love affairs that end with one of the partners forming a new sexual liaison with another person. A soldier (Serge Reggiani) first meets a prostitute (Simone Signoret) and then has an affair with a young parlor maid, who then has sex with the young man of the house, who in turn has sex with a young wife, who then has sex with her husband, and so on until the film completes its circle with a Count (Gérard Philipe) having sex with the same prostitute. La Ronde is technically brilliant, the cinematography sparkles, and this is truly great cinema. Roger Ebert calls Ophüls' films "one of the great pleasures of the cinema."
The Criterion edition features a newly restored high-definition digital transfer; audio commentary featuring film scholar Susan White, author of The Cinema of Max Ophuls; an interview with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, discussing his father's work; an interview with actor Daniel Gélin (Napoléon, Testament of Orpheus); an interview with film scholar Alan Williams; selected correspondence between Sir Laurence Olivier and Heinrich Schnitzler (the playwright's son), illustrating the controversy surrounding the source play; new subtitle translation; and a new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty.
G. Merritt
Movie Review: A confection of naughtiness
Summary: 5 Stars
A chocolate confection of a movie.
Set in Vienna circa 1900, based on a play by Viennese playwrite Arthur Schnitzler, it's a series of vignettes more about lust than love. The vignettes flow together by having one person appearing in the next -- generally being the seducer in one, the victim in the other.
As I understand it, Ophuls moderated the promiscuous tone of Schnitzler's play. There is definitely a sense of regret and loss over these random flings despite their inevitableness.
Still, the tone is mostly light, almost flighty at times. There's a master of ceremonies (Anton Walbrook) holding the entire thing together, as well as a pretty melody by Oscar Stauss. There are even the daring intrusions of moviemaking -- a clapboard, a filmstrip with the presumed sex scene being cut out -- and, one time, a hugely amusing bit of symbolism with the merry-go-round.
As with LE PLAISIR, many fine French actors appear. Sometimes, the same ones. Danielle Darrieux (at her most beautiful). Simone Simon. Daniel Gélin. Jean-Louie Barrault (a little over-the-top). Simone Signoret. Gérard Philipe (a beautifully nuanced performance).
Similar to LE PLAISIR -- but different. And about equal in quality and enjoyment.
The Criterion DVD's transfer seems pristine. It's extras include a fine film commentary by an Ophuls expert, Susan White. Also an informative presentation by writer Allan Williams, and interviews with Daniel Gélin (1989) and son of Max, Marcel Ophuls (2008).
Movie Review: The Best of Schnitzler
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a devotee of films and something of a Schnitzler scholar. This film represents a major nexus of my interests. I know the play "Reigen" ("La Ronde") very well -- my translation of it was produced by San Diego's Old Globe Theatre some years ago. Ophuls's film of the play is superior in every way. True, it is in French, the original language having been Schnitzler's superb German, but the script has not suffered at all, probably because the Viennese sensibily is not that far removed from the Parisian. Those who produce "La Ronde" usually feel compelled to find some framing/transitional device to bridge the episodic nature of the play, and that chosen by Ophuls is highly satisfactory (Anton Walbrook's resemblance to Schnitzler himself doesn't hurt). The cast is the finest available in France at the time (1950), combining established stars with up-and-coming players like Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani. Criterion's DVD transfer upholds the high standards one has come to expect from that fine label. I recommend this DVD to anyone interested in the best of continental theatre, or just entertaining movies.