DVD Corner

The Earrings of Madame de… Blu-ray Review

“The Earrings of Madame de…” never quite lives up the praise it has received over the years.

“The Earrings of Madame de…” (AKA “Madame de… in some parts of the world) is a Max Ophuls’ film that revolves around the wealthy married Countess Louise and Count Andre (who is a General). The film begins with the overprivledged Louise selling a valuable pair of earrings to a jeweler in order to cover her debts. Unfortunately, she sold the earrings in secret and didn’t consult her husband about it and herein lies the conflict for the rest of the film. Louise winds up lying to her husband and tells him that the earrings may be lost or stolen. With the lost earrings becoming headline news, the nervous jeweler decides to confront Andre about the situation and he winds up buying the earrings back without her knowledge. After that, Andre winds up giving the earrings as a gift to his mistress who in turn hocks them in order to acquire my gambling money. As if that weren’t enough, the earrings are then purchased by a man named Baron Donati who begins to develop feelings for Countess Louise (the feeling is mutual). Without giving too much away, let’s just say the lies and infidelities have major consequences for all of the characters involved.

Before I dig into ‘Earrings,’ two things must be said up front. 1. The direction by Max Ophuls is undeniably first rate and 2. The screenplay (based off of Louise de Vilmorin’s novel) written by Marcel Achard, Max Ophuls and Annette Wademant is rich with themes and ideas about lies, love, desire, marriage, possessions, pain and religion.

Now, as technically proficient and meaty as the film is, I find the story’s framework to be frustratingly puzzling. As you can gather from the above plot summary, both the Count and Countess are cold cheating liars which makes caring about either character quite difficult. Even stranger than that is the fact that the writers try to romanticize the life of Louise while villainizing Andre. Granted, Andre’s character does take a dark turn as he punishes Louise in cruel manners, but having Andre take this dark turn feels entirely forced to begin with. Instead of dealing with the marital complications in a different light, the writers turn the story into a weepy soap opera in the film’s second half (which proves to be significantly less interesting than the first half of the film). You could make a case that the character arc for Andre makes the film more tragic and emotional, but to me, it turned ‘Earrings’ into a tonally awkward bore that is more preoccupied by hypocritical revenge than anything else.

Video/Audio:

Presented in 1.33:1 1080p from a 2K restoration, ‘Earrings’ certainly looks stunning. The beautiful B&W transfer offers up a impressive level of clarity (especially with sparkling jewelry).

The Uncompressed French Mono track is better than the average Mono track, but it’s still just a Mono track.

Extras:
* A very thick booklet containing glossy photos, a passionate essay by film critic Molly Haskell, an excerpt from Georges Annenkov’s book “Max Ophuls,” and the  entire “Madame De” novel by Louise De Vilmorin.
* An intro by director Paul Thomas Anderson of “Boogie Nights” and “There Will Be Blood” fame.
* A visual essay by Tag Gallagher that touches on Opuhl’s directorial style, emotion, and “The Earrings of Madame de…”
* “Novelist Louise De Vilmorin”- An interview with the author who penned the “Madame de” novel that the film was based on.
* “Opuls’s Collaborators”- Interviews with AD Alain Jessua, co-writer Annette Wademant and assistant decorator Marc Frederix. Discussions range from their specific jobs and their careers to their working relationship with Ophuls and scenes from the film.
* Commentary by film scholars Gaylyn Studlar and Susan White. Another one of those scripted commentaries that are informative, but not exactly thrilling to listen to.

Summary: I can see why “The Earrings of Madame de…” is celebrated by some film fans, but I can’t say I share that enthusiasm. It’s worth seeing, but it’s not a film I would consider great by any means.

August 15, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Max Ophuls, The Earrings of Madame de... Blu-ray Review, The Earrings of Madame de... Criterion Blu-ray Review