In France of the late 19th century, the wife of a wealthy general, the Countess Louise, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off debts; she claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, & her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.
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The Earrings of Madame De is probably the most integral classic that I hadn't seen, not necessarily for its importance in cinema history but in its influence with my contemporary favourites. It's clear to see its fingerprints all over the work of Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson for instance and its technical bravura is the easiest aspect to find immediately enthralling. Letter From An Unknown Woman had hints of Ophuls' style, but Madame De is full throttle with his marvellous controlled hand with its swirling camera-work complimenting the extravagant production and costume design. There's a wonderful romance in how it handles fate and coincidence in its satisfying full-circle structure, but there's a tender bittersweetness in how it shows finding love through another love. The eventual tragedy is counter-balanced by good humour despite the admittedly unlikeable characters. But that just feeds into the superficiality of the film's construction and how it doesn't matter how beautiful something is, as demonstrated by what the earrings mean to Madame De by the end. This is excellent filmmaking and I must watch more Ophuls immediately.9/10
Gliding...The inexorable movement - of life.Why talk about "camera movements" - tracks, dollies, cranes - at all, if we're not going to talk about what they DO - what they MEAN.Anybody with enough money can fill their film with dolly shots.The Dance...Of lifeOf deathTrains. Balls and trains.The circularity of a "white lie"The elegance of an elegant ensemble each bringing their own life story to bear on the way they inhabit (and do they!) their roles. You don't need to know anything about this, but the more you know the deeper the film gets.Maybe the key line is when Boyer says to Darrieux "Our relationship is only superficially superficial".Those who need to "identify" with the characters in a film, and thus find that the social position of these characters makes engagement with this film impossible...Well, I just feel sorry for you. Really.I think another read through of a concise cinema book - maybe Sarris' American Cinema - is in order.What does he write about Ophuls? "His elegant characters lack nothing and lose everything."Exactly.But besides all that...Composition and the clarity of the arc. Underneath all of the gliding and circularity, an unstoppable forward motion. Carried through and fulfilled like in very,very few films. The word "Masterpiece" - unfortunate word! - must be used.One word to my fellow IMDb reviewers: I really think the word "boring" should carry the same onus as an unacknowledged spoiler. You are bored? Check yourself.This review has nearly no content, but it is very hard to write anything about perfection.
"The Earrings Of Madame de..." is an homage to the rich in fin de siecle France, with the accompanying elegance and opulence front and center. The lush set pieces could have received an Oscar nom on their own, as could Ophuls' celebrated camera work. It is a clever and absorbing love story, the overall effect of which is of a world trivialized and complicated by excessive wealth and by a very common ethical sense.Madame is 'idle rich', and has run up some undisclosed debts and sells her earrings, a wedding gift from her husband and which she deems unattractive and therefore disposable. She pretends they are stolen but the jeweler brings them back to her husband, who buys them back and gives them to his mistress. They eventually end up in Constantinople, purchased by a Count who, enchanted at first sight by Madame, gives them to her as a gift. From here on matters take some predictable turns. The story is quite good and avoids tedium by virtue of the competence of the actors and by Ophuls' camera. I enjoyed the lush sets and the overall deliberate pace, which was made quicker by his camera movement. It is the kind of picture which lingers in the mind long after it is over. It is not available in any format and was shown at MOMA, NYC in 35mm.
I keep wondering where these amazing treasures, such as "The Earrings of Madame De..." have been all my life. This 1953 Max Ophuls film is magnificent in every respect - direction, acting, script, photography, with just the right touch of humor for what is, in essence, a tragic love story.It is 19th Century France. Danielle Darrieux is "Comtesse Louise De..." who in the beginning of the film sells a pair of heart-shaped earrings given to her by her husband, General Andre De... (Charles Boyer), as she has some expenses that she must meet. She trusts the jeweler's confidentiality. During a production of "Orfeo e Euridice," she announces to Andre that she's left her earrings somewhere. However, the jeweler tells Andre about the sale; Andre buys back the earrings and gives them to his girlfriend, whom he's dumping. When she needs gambling money, she sells them, and they are purchased by Baron Donati (Vittorio di Sica) as a gift for his new girlfriend - the Comtesse Louise! The earrings are a symbol of fate, the volatility of love, and the meaning of possession. The General is a possessive man, but he wants to have his cake and eat it, too, presenting these beautiful earrings to two women. The Comtesse doesn't want the earrings when they're from her husband; when they're from her lover, she's desperate to find a way that she can wear them and resorts to manipulation in order to do so. For Donati, they're a symbol of romantic love, but when he realizes that his beloved is flesh and blood and not totally truthful, he becomes disillusioned.All of this is done with looks, a word, a suggestion, a dance, the placement of furniture (the General and Comtesse sleep in the same room, miles apart) - nothing too overt. The delicacy and subtlety of the film is magical.The beautiful Danielle Darrieux, now 92 and with a film coming out next year, does a beautiful job as the flirtatious Louise, who becomes more involved than she planned - she goes from flirty to passionate and finally to desperate. DeSica is a handsome and charming suitor; and Boyer has just the right amount of edge on his performance. He's not the monster of "Gaslight," but an authoritative Frenchman who doesn't want a scandal and becomes annoyed when he sees that his wife's romance has gone a little too far.With its fluid photography, pace, and romance, "The Earrings of Madame de..." is a true gem. No other way to describe it.
