#444: OPHULS, Max: Le Plaisir (1952)

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OPHULS, Max (France)
Le Plaisir [1952]
Spine #444
DVD


Roving with his dazzlingly mobile camera around the decadent ballrooms, bucolic countryside retreats, urban bordellos, and painter's studios of late nineteenth-century French life, Max Ophuls brings his astonishing visual dexterity and storytelling bravura to this triptych of tales by Guy de Maupassant about the limits of spiritual and physical pleasure. Featuring a stunning cast of French stars (including Danielle Darrieux, Jean Gabin, and Simone Simon), Le plaisir pinpoints the cruel ironies and happy compromises of life with a charming and sophisticated breeziness.

97 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in French
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2008
Director/Writers


Based on three stories by Guy de Maupassant.
Adaptation by Jacques Natanson and Max Ophuls.
Dialogue by Natanson.
Ophuls was 50 when he directed Le Plaisir.

Other Ophuls films in the Collection:

#443: La Ronde (1950)
#445: The Earrings Of Madame De . . . (1953)
#503: Lola Montès (1955)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twenty-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Robin Wood.

Commentary

None.

Introduction

By filmmaker Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven)
English- and German-language

Versions of the opening narration.
From Script to Screen

A video essay featuring film scholar Jean-Pierre Berthomé discussing the evolution of director Ophul’s screenplay.
Interviews

With actor Gélin, assistant director Tony Aboyantz, and set decorator Robert Christidès.
Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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