Review of La Ronde (1950) by Bernard A — 07 Dec 2009

This was my first foray into the works of director Max Ophüls.

I have to say LA RONDE reminds me a lot of the pre-code musicals directed by Ernst Lubitsch - but with less music. LA RONDE certainly has as lavish a look as Lubitsch's THE SMILING LIEUTENANT, which is always a plus. It also manages to prance around the subject of much sexual activity without actually showing anything at all. But the subject matter was hot enough for the film to be banned in the U.S. during it's initial release. It's really very tame by today's more graphic standards - so I think you will enjoy this more if you compare it to other films of it's time period.

The characters (portrayed by literally a who's who in classic French cinema) in the film are shown each in turn involved in moments of sexual encounters. It begins with a prostitute (Simone Signore) offering a "freebie" to a soldier (Serge Reggiani). The soldier in turn is involved with a maid (Simone Simon - yummy). The maid has a fling with her master's son (Daniel Gélin)...then the son with a older married woman (Danielle Darrieux)...and so on and so forth until it comes around full circle back again to the prostitute as per implied by the title.

There is an all-knowing narrator (Alton Walbrrok) who also appears in various guises throughout the story. One particular moment showed Walbrook censoring out a love scene with a pair of scissors - which cracked me up.

The film is beautifully photographed, as I mentioned above - and I have encountered this type of circular narrative format before, I'm sure...but cannot place it. Probably Roger Vadim's CIRCLE OF LOVE...but it's really been awhile since I've seen that. I know I've seen one porno which used the same storytelling technique. At least there is a porno director emulating Max Ophüls, heh!!!

8.