An immensely expensive and ambitious Franco-German co-production it failed at the box office and was heavily re-cut despite the objections of the director. The first serious attempt to restore the movie to reflect Max Ophüls’ intentions was in 1968. A second more ambitious attempt was made in 2008. That’s the version released by Criterion on DVD and Blu-Ray and that’s the version reviewed here.
It is of course the story of Lola Montez, perhaps the most notorious woman of the 19th century. Actress, dancer, courtesan, mistress of kings and geniuses. Her real-life story was extraordinary but the story of the making of this movie was pretty extraordinary as well.
Ophüls was not the first choice of the producers. They apparently had Jacques Tourneur in mind. They had grandiose plans. The film would be an international co-production and would be shot simultaneously in French, German and English. They obviously needed a multi-lingual director. Ophüls qualified on that count and the fact that he had made movies in so many different countries made him an even more attractive choice.
The producers then did one of those things that seem like good ideas at the time. They told the director not to stress about money. He could spend as much as he liked. Bad idea. Ophüls spent a breathtaking amount of money. The movie went way over schedule.
The movie was a disaster at the box office. It’s not hard to see why when you watch the movie as Ophüls originally made it. It’s wildly unconventional. The sort of movie that bewilders mainstream audiences, and attracts negative reviews from mainstream critics. This is an experimental avant-garde art film made on a blockbuster budget. It’s the kind of outrageous movie that would later be associated with Ken Russell or David Lynch. Ophüls throws the whole idea of a linear narrative out the window.
There are extended flashbacks but without any narrative coherence. It’s all very stream-of-consciousness. There are few concessions to realism. The circus sequences, which are the heart and soul of the movie, are pure fantasy concoctions having zero connection to any event in Montez’s life. It’s actually very Ken Russell.
The movie starts with Lola in a circus. She has become a kind of freak show, displayed as if she were a wild beast, a man-eating tigress. She provides entertainment for the crowd by answering questions about her scandalous life. These trigger the flashbacks but they’re not in any kind of chronological order. She also does a trapeze act!
We see snippets of Lola’s youth, of her first marriage, her affair with the composer Liszt and her celebrated and notorious affair with King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
The big issue for a lot of people is the performance of Martine Carol as Lola. Ophüls didn’t want her. I don’t blame him. She does her best and she’s really by no means bad but she just does not have the charisma and the glamour that was needed. She also does not have the erotic allure. Lola was a woman who made her living from her sexual allure. A king ruined himself and his kingdom for her. Martine Carol just does not succeed in convincing us that this is a woman for whom rich powerful men would sacrifice everything.
Peter Ustinov (an actor I’ve always disliked) is superb as the ringmaster. He’s not just the ringmaster of the circus. He has become the ringmaster of Lola’s life. He is no mere exploiter. He loves Lola. He is devoted to her. I have to admit that Ustinov nails this tricky part extremely well.
Anton Walbrook (a bit of a favourite with Ophüls) is excellent as King Ludwig.
If you’re expecting a conventional movie you’re likely to be baffled and alienated. But it is as I said earlier rather like the movies of crazed visionaries like Ken Russell and David Lynch (with perhaps a slight dash of Josef von Sternberg’s obsessive pursuit of style). You just have to go with it. If you do that then it’s an intoxicating experience filled with wild visual splendours. The shot compositions are dazzling. The colours are stunning. The sets are magnificent. Ophüls couldn’t find a circus big enough to encompass his vision so he built one.
Lola Montès is what you get when you give a crazed genius a blank cheque. It’s a strange flawed masterpiece. Very highly recommended.
After leaving Hollywood and settling in France Ophüls only made four movies but they were certainly memorable. I’ve also reviewed La Ronde (1950) which is in its own way equally unconventional in its rejection of conventional narrative.
The movie was a disaster at the box office. It’s not hard to see why when you watch the movie as Ophüls originally made it. It’s wildly unconventional. The sort of movie that bewilders mainstream audiences, and attracts negative reviews from mainstream critics. This is an experimental avant-garde art film made on a blockbuster budget. It’s the kind of outrageous movie that would later be associated with Ken Russell or David Lynch. Ophüls throws the whole idea of a linear narrative out the window.
The movie starts with Lola in a circus. She has become a kind of freak show, displayed as if she were a wild beast, a man-eating tigress. She provides entertainment for the crowd by answering questions about her scandalous life. These trigger the flashbacks but they’re not in any kind of chronological order. She also does a trapeze act!
We see snippets of Lola’s youth, of her first marriage, her affair with the composer Liszt and her celebrated and notorious affair with King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Peter Ustinov (an actor I’ve always disliked) is superb as the ringmaster. He’s not just the ringmaster of the circus. He has become the ringmaster of Lola’s life. He is no mere exploiter. He loves Lola. He is devoted to her. I have to admit that Ustinov nails this tricky part extremely well.
Anton Walbrook (a bit of a favourite with Ophüls) is excellent as King Ludwig.
Lola Montès is what you get when you give a crazed genius a blank cheque. It’s a strange flawed masterpiece. Very highly recommended.
After leaving Hollywood and settling in France Ophüls only made four movies but they were certainly memorable. I’ve also reviewed La Ronde (1950) which is in its own way equally unconventional in its rejection of conventional narrative.
No comments:
Post a Comment