Extremely beautiful film...lovingly shot in B/W with striking camera movement and intricately worked out segways. On a superficial level this was an unchallenged masterpiece. On a substantive level, however, it didn't work for me at all.
We follow some privileged elite around as they play their little games and deceptions in gilded age Vienna. Spoiled and self-absorbed, with their expensive clothes, jewels, carriages, etc., they brought out the Robespierre in me. To Ophuls credit he did insert a few digs at this class here and there-eg. gatekeepers complaining about being served beans yet again while serving people who live in opulence.
There was a justly celebrated segway where DD tears up a letter and flings it out the window of a moving train where the pieces merge into snowflakes, thereby marking the passage of time. While I recognized the artistry I found myself thinking she was an insensitive twit littering. And the vaunted ballroom/dance sequence struck me as artificial, contrived solely for its cinematic effect.
This film is often celebrated as one of the greats. I was disappointed that it didn't work as such for me.
5
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