LE PLAISIR (includes footage)
May 19th 2010 15:14
Max Ophuls was a French film maker that directed movies in his home land and also in Hollywood, some of these included, Lola Montes, The Reckless Moment and my personal favourite, Letter From An Unknown Woman. Le Plaisir was released in 1952 and is said to have been Stanley Kubrick’s favourite film.
Le Plaisir was made after Ophuls returned to France, after working in Hollywood, and was among his final films, which also included, La Ronde, The Earrings of Madame De… and his first colour film and final one - Lola Montes. While Le Plaisir is one of Ophuls lesser known films it does find him returning to themes that originally defined him as an artist. Many of Ophuls' films dealed with themes of luxury and fantasy, set in Europe at the turn of the century. Le Plaisir is based on the short stories of French writer Guy de Maupassant, with it’s series of three short stories exploring the idea’s of desire and pleasure and the ultimately ironic outcomes that are a result of these.
Each segment revels in joie de vivre; an old man has a burst of youth brought upon him by a mysterious mask, a brothel madam on a bucolic trip with her prostitutes to the country side has a weekend of emotional connection and romance, while the third story focuses on the bitter sweet love story of an artist and his muse.
Since these stories were limited by the time constraints of three joining tales, Ophuls was forced to bring forth the pure essence of these short stories, through his images, in one of the most possibly stunning displays of cinematography and production design ever. His elegance and perfection of capturing twisting and turning movements in the camera was unprecedented and there has never been any thing quite so gorgeous since. Stanley Kubrick spoke of Ophuls, saying, “His camera floated through walls”.
Trying to explain in words, how marvellously this visual poetry of Ophuls’ was able to tell the stories with concise elegance and exquisiteness, would be futile. Ophuls camera all at once played out it’s themes, conflicts and pre-occupations with each graceful gesture. It’s ballet like movements danced around the space it was set in, never letting a wall, a stairway or ceiling limit what it could drink in so completely, but instead using every element of his set to lift the gracefulness of it’s effective fluidity. When you were watching an Ophuls film you were witnessing poetry in motion and it at once would be a critique and a love letter to the cinema.
As Ophuls plays out these cinematic tales of joy, underneath all of this simmering away, he subtly uses the spectacle of Le Plaisir to look at what is ultimately at stake and why these examples of gorgeous living have defined our culture and cinema. What is particularly striking in the case of Le Plaisir, similar to his fellow euro–ex-patriot film maker Douglas Sirk, is in the dichotomy of his style. Le Plaisir sucks you in effortlessly into such a gorgeous world of elegance and at the same time you become aware at all times that underneath everything you see, there was somehow a history of consequence to all of this, which at once takes you out of the story. Ophuls is the first person to remind you that things are not everything that they so wonderfully appear to be.
The first segment, Le Masque, begins in a ball room, with each shot viewed through the different frames of glass which makes up the design of the ballroom. We witness a plastic looking man, dancing with exuberance around all the women. The old man underneath this mask is looking to relive his womanising days of youth. This shortish segment creates a small problem for the balance of the film. Its brief length has the feel of a prologue that after everything else that will follow it seems to possess an almost throw away quality, in comparison with the swirling magnificence and mighty peaks, in Le Plaisir, that come afterwards.
La Maison Tellier, the second story and Le Plaisir’s longest, sets it’s tale in a brothel, this opening sequence makes us aware, more than ever, of how male and female genders have defined the boundaries of cinema. Many of the scenes in this extended second segment are the most stunningly shot as Ophuls camera plays with the design and architecture of the brothel house, never actually going inside the house but still making us intimately familiar with it’s goings on, which is all achieved through possibly the greatest introductory shot ever crafted. It’s phenomenal to witness this master stroke of craftsmanship in play and has to be seen to be comprehended. Many other examples of efficiency and elegance are put on display during this segment. Le Maison Tellier stars Jean Gabin (Grand Illusion, Mephisto, Port Of Shadows) and Danielle Darrieux (Persepolis, Wages Of Sin, The Earrings of Madame De…).
Le Modele is the final story, which has a slightly bolder, devil may care energy than the previous 2 segments. Each shot in this segment is bursting with significance during it’s endless tracking shots, each stroke filled with meaning, with out a single frame wasted during this bitter sweet love affair of a painter and his model. Surprisingly, there is a ferociousness and anger to this third segment which is unusual for Ophuls, with each gesture of acting and movement in camera seeming faster and harder. The richness of the story telling is filled with up and down movements of the camera, with sequences so complex that it will prepare you for climax of the film, where any kind of description in words would be sacrilege towards what is seen with the eyes during its truly unbelievable execution.
Ophuls created a legacy for himself that was admired by other great artists. His films are remembered for their content more than their style, but only few artist can transcend language with their use of imagery. There is not much point in trying to put these images back in to words as they would never be able to do Le Plaisir justice. See it for yourself to truly witness what an unbelievable film this actually is.
Here is the beginning of the second story in Le Plaisir, stunning stuff!
Le Plaisir was made after Ophuls returned to France, after working in Hollywood, and was among his final films, which also included, La Ronde, The Earrings of Madame De… and his first colour film and final one - Lola Montes. While Le Plaisir is one of Ophuls lesser known films it does find him returning to themes that originally defined him as an artist. Many of Ophuls' films dealed with themes of luxury and fantasy, set in Europe at the turn of the century. Le Plaisir is based on the short stories of French writer Guy de Maupassant, with it’s series of three short stories exploring the idea’s of desire and pleasure and the ultimately ironic outcomes that are a result of these.
Each segment revels in joie de vivre; an old man has a burst of youth brought upon him by a mysterious mask, a brothel madam on a bucolic trip with her prostitutes to the country side has a weekend of emotional connection and romance, while the third story focuses on the bitter sweet love story of an artist and his muse.
Since these stories were limited by the time constraints of three joining tales, Ophuls was forced to bring forth the pure essence of these short stories, through his images, in one of the most possibly stunning displays of cinematography and production design ever. His elegance and perfection of capturing twisting and turning movements in the camera was unprecedented and there has never been any thing quite so gorgeous since. Stanley Kubrick spoke of Ophuls, saying, “His camera floated through walls”.
Trying to explain in words, how marvellously this visual poetry of Ophuls’ was able to tell the stories with concise elegance and exquisiteness, would be futile. Ophuls camera all at once played out it’s themes, conflicts and pre-occupations with each graceful gesture. It’s ballet like movements danced around the space it was set in, never letting a wall, a stairway or ceiling limit what it could drink in so completely, but instead using every element of his set to lift the gracefulness of it’s effective fluidity. When you were watching an Ophuls film you were witnessing poetry in motion and it at once would be a critique and a love letter to the cinema.
As Ophuls plays out these cinematic tales of joy, underneath all of this simmering away, he subtly uses the spectacle of Le Plaisir to look at what is ultimately at stake and why these examples of gorgeous living have defined our culture and cinema. What is particularly striking in the case of Le Plaisir, similar to his fellow euro–ex-patriot film maker Douglas Sirk, is in the dichotomy of his style. Le Plaisir sucks you in effortlessly into such a gorgeous world of elegance and at the same time you become aware at all times that underneath everything you see, there was somehow a history of consequence to all of this, which at once takes you out of the story. Ophuls is the first person to remind you that things are not everything that they so wonderfully appear to be.
The first segment, Le Masque, begins in a ball room, with each shot viewed through the different frames of glass which makes up the design of the ballroom. We witness a plastic looking man, dancing with exuberance around all the women. The old man underneath this mask is looking to relive his womanising days of youth. This shortish segment creates a small problem for the balance of the film. Its brief length has the feel of a prologue that after everything else that will follow it seems to possess an almost throw away quality, in comparison with the swirling magnificence and mighty peaks, in Le Plaisir, that come afterwards.
La Maison Tellier, the second story and Le Plaisir’s longest, sets it’s tale in a brothel, this opening sequence makes us aware, more than ever, of how male and female genders have defined the boundaries of cinema. Many of the scenes in this extended second segment are the most stunningly shot as Ophuls camera plays with the design and architecture of the brothel house, never actually going inside the house but still making us intimately familiar with it’s goings on, which is all achieved through possibly the greatest introductory shot ever crafted. It’s phenomenal to witness this master stroke of craftsmanship in play and has to be seen to be comprehended. Many other examples of efficiency and elegance are put on display during this segment. Le Maison Tellier stars Jean Gabin (Grand Illusion, Mephisto, Port Of Shadows) and Danielle Darrieux (Persepolis, Wages Of Sin, The Earrings of Madame De…).
Le Modele is the final story, which has a slightly bolder, devil may care energy than the previous 2 segments. Each shot in this segment is bursting with significance during it’s endless tracking shots, each stroke filled with meaning, with out a single frame wasted during this bitter sweet love affair of a painter and his model. Surprisingly, there is a ferociousness and anger to this third segment which is unusual for Ophuls, with each gesture of acting and movement in camera seeming faster and harder. The richness of the story telling is filled with up and down movements of the camera, with sequences so complex that it will prepare you for climax of the film, where any kind of description in words would be sacrilege towards what is seen with the eyes during its truly unbelievable execution.
Ophuls created a legacy for himself that was admired by other great artists. His films are remembered for their content more than their style, but only few artist can transcend language with their use of imagery. There is not much point in trying to put these images back in to words as they would never be able to do Le Plaisir justice. See it for yourself to truly witness what an unbelievable film this actually is.
Here is the beginning of the second story in Le Plaisir, stunning stuff!
| 111 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
This is one I have been meaning to check out for years, thanks for the reminder...certainly looks and smells like a masterpiece from the footage and stills.