La Ronde: The Criterion Collection (DVD)

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It turns out the ladies have gone to the countryside to attend the first communion of Madame Tellier´s niece. When they arrive in this presumably more god-fearing pastoral town, they are still treated as royalty by all the men… well, see above for a discussion of the immutable laws of nature.

Both "La ronde" and "Le plaisir" are superb examples of Ophuls at the top of his game, but "The Earrings of Madame de…," based on a story by Louise de Vilmorin, is the masterpiece of the collection and perhaps the greatest achievement of his career (1948´s brilliant "Letter from an Unknown Woman" being the most likely challenger to the title.) Danielle Darrieux delivers the performance of a lifetime as the serial fainter and pathological liar Louise who is never given a last time.

Married to the wealthy General André (played by superstar Charles Boyer), Louise has a tendency to outspend the ample allowance given to her by her husband. She decides to pawn the earrings of the title then concocts a story about losing them at the opera, the first of many lies that Louise tells and the one that sets the narrative into motion. Just as "La Ronde" followed a series of connected sexual liaisons, this movie follows the earrings en route to Constantinople by way of André´s mistress and back into Louise´s possession by way of the Italian Baron Donati who becomes Louise´s most earnest suitor (there are many.) Donati is played with panache by Vittorio de Sica, and his compelling performance here will serve as a reminder to modern audiences that the man identified as one of the great Italian neo-realist directors was much better known to audiences of the time as a screen icon.

André is used to Louise´s admirers and he plays the gentleman´s game of love with verve, but the shifting ownership of the earrings (and the lies and scandal associated with them) humiliates him. He cannot let Louise who-has-no-last name-but-if-she-did-it-would-be-his labor under the false assumption that she is not his to control.

The film´s incredible dancing sequences have been oft-discussed but virtually every shot in this film possesses a luminous quality that is unique to Max Ophuls. I simply don´t have room to discuss them, but you can get some sense of the mastery on display in the "Visual Analysis" provided by Tag Gallagher on the DVD.


These three films marked the final stage of Ophuls´ career. With "La ronde" he returned home, or more accurately the German-born Jew who fled Nazi Germany returned from Hollywood to France where he directed these three films plus his final work "Lola Montès" in 1957 before dying of a heart attack at the age of 55.

VIDEO

The film is presented in its original 1.33:1 full-screen aspect ratio. Like most recent Criterion full-screen releases, the image is pictureboxed which means some viewers will see thin black bars on the left and right of the image. The digitally restored transfer isn´t quite up to the usual Criterion standards, nor is it as good as the other two Ophuls DVDs released this month. There are more imperfections visible than usual with Criterion transfer, perhaps this was a more partial restoration than most. Still, the image quality is very good, and probably the best available right now.

AUDIO

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the audio.

EXTRAS

The feature-length commentary track by scholar Susan White, author of "The Cinema of Max Ophuls" is jam-packed with strong analysis and information. White often sounds like she is reading from her book or from pre-scripted passages, but this minor bit of awkwardness doesn´t detract from the quality of her contribution to Ophuls´ scholarship.

"Circles of Desire: Alan Williams on ´La ronde.´" Williams is the author of "Ophuls and the Cinema of Desire: A Critical Study of Six Films, 1948-1955." I haven´t had a chance to listen to this 35 minute critical analysis yet.

Marcel Ophuls, the director´s son, discusses his father´s work in an interview from Cannes in 2008 (talk about hot off the press!) 7 minutes long. Marcel is also an accomplished director best known for "The Sorrow and the Pity" (1969) and "Hotel Terminus" (1988).

An interview with actor Daniel Gélin (12 min.), conducted by Martina Müller in 1989, provides some insight into what it was like to work for Ophuls, but I can´t say I found this particularly riveting.

"Schnitzler Correspondence." An odd feature which shows letters written between Sir Laurence Olivier and Heinrich Schnitzler, Arthur´s son. The correspondence concerns an adaptation of the play being directed by Olivier.

The slim insert booklet features an essay by Terrence Rafferty.

FILM VALUE

I am not quite as enthusiastic about "La ronde" as many critics. I find Walbrook´s winking "meneur de jeu" overbearingly clever, and the story of serial sexual encounters gets a little tiresome by the end. However, "La ronde" is still a film which showcases Ophuls at the peak of his creative powers, and also features an extraordinary cast.

Reviews of "Le plaisir" and "The Earrings of Madame de…" are also available.

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