La Ronde [Criterion Collection]

Director: Max Ophüls, Max Ophuls Max Ophüls

Overview

An exercise in style, La Ronde was one of the few films of the 1950s to contain overtly sexual themes. The story is a series of character vignettes, set in Vienna in the early 1900s and held together by a narrator (Anton Walbrook). As the title implies, both the story and the film's visual motifs are circular. Director Max Ophuls uses an old-fashioned merry-go-round to foreshadow the film's events, in which each segment introduces a new character, who has an affair with a character from the previous scene. The film demands that the audience pay attention to the structure, to the interplay among the characters, and to the opulent visual elements; and the effect is synergistic delight, in which the viewer is engaged both visually and intellectually. Because it was filmed in black-and-white, La Ronde does not have the garish look of some of Ophuls' other films, notably Lola Montès. La Ronde is among the few foreign language films to receive multiple Oscar nominations, for Black & White Art Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/16/2008
UPC:	0715515031424
Original Release:	1950
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	26,078

Special Features

Audio commentary featuring film scholar Susan White, author of the Cinema of Max Ophuls; Interview with Max Ophul's son Academy Award-winning filmmaker Marcel Ophuls; Interview with actor Daniel Gélin; Interview iwth film scholar Alan Williams; Correspondence between Sir Laurence Olivier and Heinrich Schnitzler (the playwright's son), illustrating the controversy surrounding the source play; A new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Anton Walbrook	Raconteur
Simone Signoret	Léocadie
Serge Reggiani	Franz
Danielle Darrieux	Emma Breitkopf, the Married Lady
Odette Joyeux	The Grisette
Jean-Louis Barrault	Robert Kuhlenkampf, the Poet
Isa Miranda	The Actress
Robert Vattier	Schuller, the Professor
Gérard Philipe	le comte,Actor
Simone Simon	Marie
Daniel Gélin	Alfred
Fernand Gravey	Charles Breitkopf
Jean Clarieux	le brigadier sur le banc
René Marjac	le rôle secondaire
Jean Ozenne	le rôle secondaire
Jacques Vertan	le rôle secondaire
Charles Vissieres	The Concierge
Oscar Straus	Composer

Technical Credits

Jacques Natanson

Max Ophuls

Arthur Schnitzler

Sacha Gordine	Producer
Jacques Natanson	Screenwriter
Max Ophuls	Screenwriter,Director
Max Ophüls	Director
Arthur Schnitzler	Screenwriter
Ralph Baum	Producer
Pierre-Louis Calvet	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Ronde
1. A Story About Love [7:36]
2. The Prostitute and the Soldier [5:13]
3. The Soldier and Marie [8:02]
4. The Maid and the Young Man [11:34]
5. The Young Man and the Married Woman: Part 1 [9:35]
6. The Young Man and the Married Woman: Part 2 [6:01]
7. Emma and Her Husband [8:51]
8. The Husband and the Young Girl [5:54]
9. The Young Girl and the Poet [4:43]
10. The Poet and the Actress [7:23]
11. The Actress and the Count [3:46]
12. The Count and the Prostitute [6:39]
13. The Merry-Go-Round Stops [5:59]
1. Background / Reigen [7:36]
2. Gender and Class [5:13]
3. Simone Simon [8:02]
4. Camera Technique [11:34]
5. Danielle Darrieux / Arthur Schnitzler [9:35]
6. Stendhal [6:01]
7. Comedy About Money / Eyes Wide Shut [8:51]
8. Liebelei / Regret [5:54]
9. Exile and Social Commentary [4:43]
10. Isa Miranda [7:23]
11. Existenialism and a Demanding Woman [3:46]
12. A Past Half-Remembered [6:39]
13. A Chapter Begins [5:59]
1. Courtship as Performance [3:06]
2. Ophuls and Schnitzler [4:04]
3. A Perfect Accident [3:03]
4. Star Vehicle [2:19]
5. From Stage To Screen [5:34]
6. Formal Experiments: Part 1 [5:24]
7. Symmetry amd Gender Roles [4:29]
8. Formal Experiments: Part 2 [5:20]
9. Staying In France [2:09]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Ronde
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
      Color Bars
   Commentary
      Commentary: On
      Commentary: Off
      Index
         Color Bars
   Supplements
      Circles of Desire: Alan Williams On La Ronde
         Play
         Index
      Marcel Ophuls On Max Ophuls
         Play
      Actor Daniel Gélin
         Play
      Schnitzler Correspondence
         View Correspondence
   Subtitles
      On
      Off