Screening

Year Released:
1953
Genres:
Drama
Metadata:
Directed by Max Ophüls
The film will be preceded by a short introduction by James Naremore, Chancellors’ Professor Emeritus in Communication and Culture, English, and Comparative Literature at Indiana University.

A “recurring object” plot, this film involves a frivolous aristocratic lady who secretly pawns a pair of earrings given to her by her husband. The earrings take a long journey, eventually finding their way back to the lady and revealing a good deal about several characters. Director Ophüls described the earrings as the “axis” of a merry-go-round, but he could also have described them as the motive for a dance. In either case, his film contains some of the most graceful and meaningful tracking shots in all of cinema—a technique for which he was justifiably famous. In French with English subtitles. (35mm Presentation)

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