1953
Directed by Max Ophuls
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Firstly, to clear up any confusion, The Book is the only source I have found that lists this movie as Madame de…. Everywhere else, including Netflix and IMDb, lists it as The Earrings of Madame de… I think that is more fitting of a title because the earrings are much more of a character than the Madame is.
Madame doesn't have a name, mostly because she represents every boring rich woman in high society. This is a really hard plot to describe. Basically, Madame sells the earrings her husband gave to her at the beginning of the film to pay off her debts. The earrings than have a magical adventure changing hands (and learning a little something about themselves along the way). There is also love and social commentary.
This is a magnificent film; it is extremely difficult to find fault with it. The acting is superb and natural, the camera work is flawless, and the plot is intriguing. It is mostly a melodrama but strangely enough, I didn't feel like killing all the characters! You can't beat that.
RATING: *****
Interesting Facts:
Max Ophuls only agreed to do the film because Danielle Darrieux was starring in it.
Boyer and Ophuls were at each others' throats for most of filming.
Image they simply got a divorce when they realized that they preffered to be with their misstress and lover. Then the movie would have ended ten minutes in and everybody would have been happy.
ReplyDeleteFor this reason I am not as super excited about this movie.
It is always frustrating when the movie's conflict could be solved with a simple conversation. A lot of horror movies are like that.
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