The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)

Original title

Madame de…

Directed by

Max Ophüls

Genre

drama film, romance film

Country

France, Italy

Runtime

1h 45m

Rated

M/12

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 258 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A 1950s aristocratic couple hides their extramarital affairs behind social rituals. A pair of earrings passes between lovers and sellers, revealing the cost of secrets and appearances.

elegantmelancholicslow-burnironicvisually lushromanticfatalisticrestrained

What happens

The Earrings of Madame de... (French: Madame de... [madam də]) is a 1953 period romantic drama film directed by Max Ophüls from a screenplay he co-wrote with Marcel Achard and Annette Wademant, and starring Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux and Vittorio De Sica. The story revolves around the extramarital affairs of an aristocratic couple, in which the titular earrings play a central role. The film was a French and Italian co-production, and based on the 1951 novel Madame de... by Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin. The title reflects the fact that the surname of the main character is never revealed—the few times it might be heard or seen, it is obscured by noise or a camera trick. Released by Gaumont on September 16, 1953, the film initially received mixed reviews, though it received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design. In the years since, The Earrings of Madame de... has been acclaimed by critics and filmmakers as a masterpiece of 1950s French cinema and one of Ophüls' finest works, with critic Andrew Sarris calling it "the most perfect film ever made". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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