Movie Details
| Title: | Lola Montes | |
| Director: | Max Ophuls | |
| Year: | 1955 | |
| Genre: | Biopic | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 07.12.13 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (1)
- The Earrings of Madame De...
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 07.12.13 | Marchesa | Lola Montes! Lola Montes! This is one of those titles that sounds good yelled over and over again. I picture Billy Wilder yelling Avanti! Avanti! Lola Montes! I don't really know why. Anyway, I watched this movie a long time ago when I read in an interview that Paul Thomas Anderson counted Ophuls amongst his most favorite directors. I like to think I don't remember much about that first viewing except some crazy camera moves and Peter Ustinov yelling her name. Lars and AFS gave me a convenient excuse to revisit this and soak in more of the story and structure now that I've (hopefully) matured a little bit as a filmgoer. As always, Lars provided solid context for the film which made me appreciate certain aspects such as who Martine Carol was and the heavy cloud of financial failure that the film carried upon release. Well Ustinov does not yell her name over and over again. Weird. Otherwise, there was a lot in this movie to like. The sets, particularly the circus stage and the Bavarian locations, are amazing. You can see money thrown at every nook and cranny of the screen. The lighting and camerawork in the interior soundstages, the circus set in particular, is nothing short of amazing. The costumes and set dressing and pretty much every aspect of physical production is lush and grande and opulent. Also the intricate flashback structure, moving from the garishly loud circus tale to much more intimate and quiet realities in flashback is pretty cool. Certainly for 1955 it's an achievement. It does feel pretty long however, and for the time it takes, it doesn't tell a huge amount of story. I was only carried along by the story a few short scenes at a time. The bright side is that I had plenty of time to notice all the technical stuff I listed above. I don't think it's ever going to be a favorite of mine, but I certainly enjoyed it and found it worth watching. |
