#445: OPHULS, Max: The Earrings Of Madame De . . . (1953)

OPHULS, Max (France)

The Earrings Of Madame De . . . [1953]

Spine #445
DVD

French master Max Ophuls's most cherished work, The Earrings of Madame de . . . is an emotionally profound, cinematographically adventurous tale of false opulence and tragic romance. When the aristocratic woman known only as Madame de (the extraordinary Danielle Darrieux) sells her earrings, unbeknownst to her husband (Charles Boyer), in order to pay personal debts, she sets off a chain reaction, the financial and carnal consequences of which can only end in despair. Ophuls adapts Louise de Vilmorin's inclusive fin de siècle novel with virtuosic camera work so elegant and precise it's been called the equal of that of Orson Welles.

100 minutes
Black & White

Monaural

in French

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2008

Director/Writers

Based on the novel by Louise de Vilmorin.

Adaptation by Marcel Achard, Max Ophuls, and Annette Wademant.

Ophuls was 51 when he directed The Earrings of Madame de . . .

Other Ophuls films in the Collection:

#443: La Ronde (1950)
#444: Le Plaisir (1952)
#503: Lola Montès (1955)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Eighty-page booklet featuring an essay by Molly Haskell, an excerpt from costumer designer Georges Annenkov’s 1962 book Max Ophuls, and the source novel, Madame de, by Vilmorin.

Commentary

Featuring film scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar.

Introduction

By filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood).

Interviews

With Ophuls collaborators Alain Jessua, Marc Frédérix, and Annette Wademant.

Visual analysis

Of the movie by film scholar Tag Gallagher.

Interview

With novelist Vilmorin on Ophul’s adaptation of her story.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
By Spine #