David Parkinson is dazzled by this wonderfully restored edition of Ophuls' final film.
Max Ophuls once wrote about his final feature, ‘The audience is expecting a cream cake, but instead it gets a punch in the stomach!’.
For a confection that was designed to delight audiences in the midst of postwar austerity, Lola Montès has certainly proved contentious. On first seeing this 113-minute paean to a bygone era in December 1956, Parisian audiences rioted in protest at its satirical politics and complex flashbacking structure. In response, Gamma Films asked Ophüls to revise the print and he submitted a 110-minute version in January 1957. A third edition, running 91 minutes, surfaced some time during the same month in Toulouse and Monte Carlo. But it was the imposition of linearity that primarily prompted titans like Jean Cocteau, Jacques Tati and Roberto Rossellini to publish a letter in Le Figaro exhorting the public to catch what they deemed an artistic landmark before it was bowdlerised beyond recognition.
The process of reconstruction took many years, especially as it was complicated by the existence of a German-language version. But it’s now possible to see Ophuls’s sole outing in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor as the subversive spectacle he intended. Christian Matras’s photography, Jean D’Eaubonne’s sets, Georges Annenkov’s costumes and Georges Auric’s score are all extraordinary and so is the all-star cast encountered by Martine Carol’s courtesan, as she seduces, among others, Franz Liszt, Ludwig I of Bavaria, a Scottish army officer and a student revolutionary,.
But while the action was set in the 19th century, this was very much a treatise on the rise of tabloid journalism and the growing cult of celebrity. Taking the lives of Judy Garland and Diana Barrymore for his inspiration, Ophuls launched a seethingly stylised assault on the peddlars of the insidious gossip that dehumanised its victims. Thus, he inverted the taste and sophistication of his previous pictures to present a world of lurid decadence, in which Lola was reduced to being a trophy possession.
Some questioned whether the audacious technical ingenuity atoned for the drama’s psychological shortcomings. But Ophuls recognised that the gutter press focused on actions and appearances rather than human motives and fashioned Lola as a beautiful object, whose fascination merely lasted as long as her lustre. Consequently, this calculated swipe at the fickleness of public opinion now seems more pertinent than ever.
The story of the legendary courtesan is told in flashback as Lola spends her last years performing in a circus presided over by a domineering ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) and reliving the events and loves of her life, with among others, Liszt and the King of Bavaria. Ophul's breathtaking mastery of mise en scène has never been more in evidence than here in his first and only film to use colour and widescreen.
“BREATHTAKING! Don’t miss it!”
– David Fear, Time Out New York
“Truly a major cinematic event!”
– 2008 New York Film Festival notes
“ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL FILMS... Beautiful and heartbreaking."
– David Thomson
“ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOVIES EVER MADE! When the first image hit the screen I caught my breath!”
– Nathan Lee, WNYC
“RECOMMENDED! A MASTERPIECE! GORGEOUSLY STYLIZED AND MAGNIFICENTLY MYSTERIOUS!”
– New York Magazine
“A SUMPTUOUS RESTORATION! A COLOSSAL SPECTACLE ABOUT COLOSSAL SPECTACLES!”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker
"A REVELATORY NEW PRINT! REQUIRES THE BIG SCREEN TO BLOOM — AND BLOOM IT DOES, INTO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY."
– Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
“SHEER ECSTASY... I recommend Lola Montès wholeheartedly for its sensuous delights and its ever exquisite artistry!”
– Andrew Sarris, The New York Observer (October 7, 2008) < less
By Chris Jones on 1st June 2000
Ophuls’ final film and his only work in colour tells the story of the famous, eponymous 19th century courtesan and adventuress. Framed by scenes in a New Orleans circu... more >
Ophuls’ final film and his only work in colour tells the story of the famous, eponymous 19th century courtesan and adventuress. Framed by scenes in a New Orleans circus where cruel ringmaster Ustinov invites questions from a vulgar audience about the lady’s colourful life, the film is structured as a series of beautifully composed flashbacks detailing the various romantic involvements of the heroine. The stunning stylistic effects achieved by the effortless fluidity of Ophuls constantly tracking camera create an overwhelming visual spectacle where the lines between Lola’s romantic memories and her tawdry reality are constantly blurred. < less
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Lola Montes (Restored Edition)
