le plaisir---ophuls---7---dir2
of course it had been seen in MX; of course we have the lobbys
IMDB:It has been rightly claimed that, between 1945 and 1955, Max Ophuls was
the greatest director in the world, crafting a string of dense pearls unmatched
before or since. Even 'Le Plaisir', supposedly a minor film in his canon would
be a staggering masterpiece in anyone else's.
A triptych of Guy de Maupassant stories, it is also about a trio of Gods. The
first two are shown to be limited: Maupassant, author, creator, narrator,
speaks to us from the darkness, disembodied, all pervasive ('I could be sitting
next to you'), responsible for everything we see - in the last story he crashes
down to earth, and is responsible for a suicide attempt; and Ophuls' camera,
seemingly weightless, able to navigate space with a freedom unavailable to
humans - even it is barred from Madame Tellier's Establishment, forced to peek
in from outside. It can reveal the bleak reality behind the prostitutes'
gaiety, but is has no access, like the men who exploit them, to their souls.
Or does it? The stunning epiphany at the church, is, after all, on one level
just a trick of the camera, or a mere figment of the women's imagination. As we
would expect, the camerawork, composition, decor, music and acting are
breathtaking and ambiguously nostalgic; what is more remarkable is the magic
sense of nature, so rare in Ophuls, and, with the exception of the Archers,
King Vidor and Lynne Ramsey, so rare in cinema.
---courtesy: Alice Liddel from dublin, ireland
CATALOG: VIEW 145
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