Customer Reviews

Lola Montes

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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Other women in the same time period became famous for their artistic talents(George Sand for one) but Lola Montes had no real talent and so she made her mark by being beautiful and aggressive. These qualities won her many admirers and at least two famous lovers: the King of Bavaria and Franz Liszt. Its a complicated story though and one with many ironies. When Lola was younger her mother wanted to marry her off to a wealthy older banker but Lola refused and instead ran away with a young man who ended up being a drunk and a philanderer. We never really see Lola's transformation from young innocent girl into woman of the world but she makes the transition so completely that nothing of the little girl remains in the woman that Lola Montes becomes. The way Carol Martine plays her we assume that either Lola Montes has no emotions or that she has them but has learned to keep them to herself. Either way it seems what Lola really loves is a man who can take care of her in style and so the real love of her life is not Franz Liszt who she grows bored with but rather the King of Bavaria who sets her up in a little palace of her own which seems perfect for her (an icy palace in an icy land for the icy Lola). Later Lola will refer to this as the happiest period in her life but we are likely to attribute this happiness not to the elderly and deaf King of Bavaria himself but to the palace he provided her with. This was the one time in her life she had a home. When the stability of Bavaria is threatened by revolution she is forced out of her palace. Outside of Bavaria she is destitute and she has nothing to sell -- except her reputation. Though penniless shes now become famous or infamous throughout Europe and so when Ustinov offers her a salary for merely telling her tale she has little choice but to accept. In the 21st Century we are so used to seeing how people capitalize on scandal that its fascinating to see a nineteenth-century version of this phenomena. Its also fascinating to see how Lola Montes must play "Lola Montes". There is a huge difference between what really happened and what the public wants to hear happened and so the story that Ustinov tells each night is just a fiction designed to give the crowd what it wants. Lola herself just goes through the motions of playing this fictive "Lola" to make a buck. In our media savvy era we might have a hard time seeing Lola Montes as a victim, rather we are likely to see her as someone cashing in on her "fame". Lola is ultimately a victim however in the same way Jay Gatsby was a victim -- they are victims of others misperceptions of them. The misperception so often repeated takes on a larger than life reality while the real life is buried in the shadows. This is the tragedy of fame, this is the tragedy of Lola. It is perhaps the most fascinating study of personality of its era. And one that speaks to our era most pointedly.

"Lola Montes" was German director Max Orphuls' first film in color, first in Cinemascope, and his last film. Due to its terrible reception in Paris in 1955, the film was re-cut twice -once by Orphuls and once by the producers- in attempts to make it more palatable to audiences. It was the most expensive European film ever made when it was released, so it was a notable flop. The first attempt to restore the "Lola Montes" to its original cut was made in 1968 from an incomplete print. The version on Criterion Collection 2010 DVD is a complete restoration, completed under the leadership of La Cinémathèque française in 2008.

This has long been a film appreciated more by filmmakers than by audiences. It appeals either to those who scrutinize its camerawork or who can place it in the context of film history or of Max Orphuls' work. That said, and although the film is technically interesting, I found it quite watchable. "Lola Montes" was the stage name of Elisabeth Rosanna Gilbert, a famed Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria in the 1840s. Orphuls reduces her to a circus attraction in middle age, taking impertinent questions from the audience and recreating her scandalous life on stage through absurd tableaux vivants and dangerous stunts.

In fact, Lola Montes was never in a circus, and Orphuls hits the viewer over the head with his condemnation of exploitation and objectification, represented by Lola's (Martine Carol) circus act and its callous ringmaster (Peter Ustinov). I can't help but think this is at least partly responsible for the film's poor reception. As a rule, movies that scold, accuse, or condemn their own audiences are not popular. When Orphuls shames the audience of that circus, they are stand-ins for the film's audience. But the circus is something to see, as we watch Lola's adventures acted out by this bizarre company and in flashback as Lola recalls the events of her life.

Martine Carol was not Max Orphuls' choice for the role, and she is wooden. That's appropriate in the circus scenes, less so in the flashbacks. I think the real Lola Montes must have had more personality, but since this is a film about spectacle, not drama, Carol's limited acting skills don't hinder its ambitions. It takes liberties with Lola Montes biography, but it wasn't intended to be a biopic. Although Orphuls undoubtedly meant for "Lola Montes" to comment on exploitation, it could just as easily be a comment on celebrity, which might be more timely in the 21st century. Lola Montes used celebrity, and it used her. In French and German with optional English subtitles.

The DVDs (Criterion Collection 2010 2-disc set): On Disc 1 are the film and a feature commentary by Max Orphuls scholar Susan White, recorded in 2008. She discusses the film's history, composition, camerawork, making the film, its context in Orphuls oeuvre, and themes. On Disc 2, there is a 1965 episode of the French television program "Cinéastes de notre temps" (53 min) that features some of Orphuls collaborators. "Max by Marcel" (33 min) is a documentary by Marcel Orphuls about his father. There is some footage (1 min) of Martine Carol demonstrating hairstyles from the film. And there is a theatrical trailer for the restored version from Rialto Pictures. Subtitles are available in English.

...Fox-Lorber can be credited with sly only, for releasing this lack of quality even Madacy would be ashamed of.
The 1 star is because of this release. Maybe they don't know yet that DVD technology allow for subtitles as a choice option, and maybe their budget was too short to get them right (one quarter is accurate, one quarter is approximate, one quarter is absolute fancy, and one quarter has escaped translation. But the worse is the (absence of) quality of the picture which is perfectly matched by a botched soundtrack.
Until Criterion or some real professional in DVD business will take care of getting this released as it should be, better to avoid this one.

When the era of poetic realism ended in France (the 1930s), a new kind of cinema developed, a kind of cinema that was called the 'cinema of quality' (1940s-1950s). Films that came out of the cinema of quality were usually films that tried to achieve the success of typical Hollywood films (needing big budget, famous stars, cheesy slap-in-the-face story, etc.). Martine Carole was one of these famous actresses of this particular era. This film is not just a autobiographical portrayal of the femme fatale Lola Montes, but Ophuls had surely made himself clear in his idea of totally ridiculing the actress herself and the cinema of quality studio system. Carol's mannequin-like acting was intentional (though she was not at all a good actress in her other films), just like Ophuls wanted it to be(for the mockery's sake) and in the film, the 'Lola' representation of Carol was fragmented, and shattered through a lot of masking shots: a total degradation of her femininity. The rather surrealistic circus events that framed the story helped in our understanding of how Lola's life was being sneered at by the audience, how she became the object of desire and also the object of disgust. And as being one of the product of the cinema of quality era, the film also include some breathtaking costume design, and really exquisite settings. A thoughtful analysis of the feminine as a femme fatale, and a total masterpiece with lots of self-reflexivity of the film as cinema.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw "Lola Montes", had made its way to DVD. I was so thrilled I couldn't get my money out fast enough. Of course, I took for granted that the negative had been restored and the telecine transfer had been made from a new 35mm interpositive on the Philips "Spirit". I also took for granted that the best audio facility would have been employed re-record the track of a film this important cinema history. Well, I was wrong on both counts and badly wrong at that. It's almost as though someone found a 16mm print that had been left outside in a garbage dump for twenty years and mastered it rather than go through the expense of restoring this masterpiece. It is simply the worst looking print and worst sounding track I have ever experienced on VHS or DVD. If you're hoping to see one of the world's great films beautifully restored and re-recorded, look somewhere else.

The movie itself was great, but the transfer is extremly diaappointing, considering that Fox Lorber acquired it recently after Home Vision Cinema lost the video rights. Fox Lorber could have gone through new tranfers and a color and sound restoration, as they reportedly done with their new Truffaut releases on video and DVD (or it could've done by the French and picked up by convience and after Criterion lost their rights to the films, anyway, Fox Lorber claimed to have done "new translation").

The video and sound quailty is extremely poor that colors changed throughout a scene and the audio is quite low accompanied by tics and hisses. Fox Lorber did a disservice to everyone since this is the one and only source many of us have to watch the film. (As a side note, the director's cut, with a running time around 140 minutes, is rarely seen after it was butchered for a shorter running time since the production company was on the verge of bankruptcy as the movie failed to make any profit. This was done, sadly, when Ophuls was on his deathbed).

I can hardly believe how bad the quality of the Fox-Lorber DVD version of this film is. I have the privilege of access to a local University library with an extensive laserdisc and DVD collection, so I was able to see both this DVD version and the criterion collection's out of print laserdisc edition of this film. The difference between the quality of the dated laserdisc and this DVD was like night and day - the laserdisc was incomporably better. Why Fox-Lorber does not simply pay for the Criterion print is beyond me. For Fox-Lorber to buy the DVD rights to this film and then release a version of such shamefully low quality is ridiculous - it seems to me alogical, as if though it would have made more sense for Fox-Lorber never to aquire the rights at all. In truth, because I enjoy this film so much, I feel that this DVD is an act of wanton cruelty on Fox Lorber's part. I would advise discriminating viewers to avoid this DVD; I despair because I can now not own a copy of the film for myself in the forseeable future.

If Lola Montes were alive today I'm sure she would be a tabloid sensation or perhaps a reality television star famous for her notoriety. Born Eliza Gilbert, she reinvented herself during the late 1800s and tried her hand at singing, acting and dancing - failing miserably at all three. What she lacked in talent, however, she more than made up for in sex appeal. Rumours swirled around her about various lovers and Bavaria's Ludwig I bestowed upon her the title of Countess of Landsfeld. She challenged her critics to duels and dared to smoke in public.

In short, Montes led a pretty exciting life ripe for cinematic treatment. Director Max Ophuls took up the challenge in what would be his last film and the only one in colour and Cinemascope. When Lola Montes was released in 1955, the critics savaged it causing the film's producers to panic and re-edit it. The film did have its admirers, chief among them filmmaker Francois Truffaut and critic Andrew Sarris. By 2008, Lola Montes was restored to Ophuls' original intentions and digitally remastered to its original glory, preserving its vibrant colour scheme.

The first disc includes an audio commentary by film scholar Susan White, author of The Cinema of Max Ophuls. She states that Lola Montes is not a film for everyone because of the unusual attention to style. She discusses the odd casting of Martine Carol and what she brought to the film. White does an excellent job of analyzing the film's style and what it means in relation to the characters and the story. She also sheds light on the film's rocky production. This is a very informative track full of insight into the film and the people that made it.

The second disc starts with "Cineastes de Notres Temps," an episode of the French television series featuring several of Ophuls' collaborators, many of whom worked on Lola Montes. The film's cinematographer talks about the director's love of movement. In fact, everyone talks about his working methods and obsession with movement within film.

"Max by Marcel" is a 2009 short film by Marcel Ophuls (Max's son) where he talks about his work on the film as an assistant director. Marcel interviews a few people who also worked on the film. The producers did not like the footage Ophuls was shooting forced Martine Carol and the use of colour and Cinemascope on him.

"Martine Carol Hair Tests" features silent footage of the actress showing some of the fantastic hairstyles she sports in Lola Montes.

Finally, there is the rerelease trailer.

Some reviewers on this site have blasted this transfer for low video and sound quality. Frankly, this caused me to hesitate several months before plunking down the cash to see this. Since the art house revival scene is dying out and you would never find this in the local Ballbuster, I realized that this was the only chance I had to see this movie--by reputation an overlooked classic.

I hit the play button last night with a certain trepidation, mentally preparing myself to view a badly worn relic. Fortunately, the "low technical quality" rumors are much overblown. Yes, this is a 45 year old color film that did not see loving restoration in its DVD transfer. Nonetheless, color, resolution and sound rate a B or B+, but you would have to be a churlish obsessive to complain about it. The miracle is that you can get this film at all in eminently watchable condition.

I suppose Oedipal elder abuse was a good publicity strategy for establishing street cred for the new wave, but Lola Montes provides convincing evidence that the French movie landscape of the early 50's has been unfairly denigrated as a musty dead end. Lola Montes is a high energy, exuberantly theatrical, cinematic tour de force on the same exalted level as Rules of the Game or Children of Paradise that testifies that the old wave went out in a blaze of glory, not sclerosis.

Max Ophlus' s masterpiece is a true straight forward step in the cinematographic language, daring and betting against all the odds, in this extraordinary, genial and unrepeatable film that belongs to the Pantheon of the greatest movies ever filmed in the Cinema Story.

When Wagner established the concept of Total Art, he proposed to integrate all the artistic disciplines. Ophlus in minor measure did the same with this admirable portrait, though the ravishing illumination, the amazing edition work, overwhelming locations subordinated to pay tribute to that strong female character, who broke the laws and bet hard with the conventionalism of those times. She lived intensely, and lived several lives in just one.

And she, despite of having been the most scandalous woman in the world, makes her last appearance in a dangerous act, which is by itself an ironic device; if you think it over the Circus' charm resides precisely it is a like a matrix, that brings up back to our childhood. Lola Montes represents the love and liberty without hindrance, epitomizing free willed, free spirited and brave woman who stands in defiance of social rules; a passionate and hot lover, but also a very smart and sensitive human being.

Like all of Ophlus' women, Lola exists in a world of impermanence, or transition. You must be thinking in George Sand, her audacious behavior and constant scandals. "For me the life is movement", and that is why Ophlus's camera is in constant motion, simply following accurately her way of life and uncertainties in her existence.

Max Ophlus is not only considered as the cinema master of the mobile camera, but also the screen's ornamentalist placing his women. And his previous films such La Ronde, Le plaisir, and the Earings of Madame de.. are a must for any true cinema lover.
Just to name some notable directors influenced by the spell of this unequal master we could remark Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Douglas Sirk and Eric Rohmer. Three genius of three different countries who understood the huge importance and transcendence of this colossus artist.

Max Ophlus died in 1957, two years after the European release of Lola. And I have not any drop of fear stating I have seen this film at least a dozen times.

A true giant masterpiece!