Rent La Ronde (1950)

Beautiful film, excellent commentary - La Ronde review by HL

Not only is this a beautiful film with major stars of the mid-20th century French cinema, but there are two excellent sections of commentary by two different experts who give information about the director, Max Ophuls, his work and his time.

Pass-the-Parcel with Benefits - La Ronde review by griggs

La Ronde is basically a game of romantic pass-the-parcel, except everyone unwraps each other. Anton Walbrook plays the ringmaster, slipping in and out with a smirk, keeping the whole contraption spinning while reminding us it’s all artifice.

Ophüls directs with his trademark elegance: the camera glides through bedrooms, ballrooms and boudoirs with such grace it’s as if seduced by the material itself. The cast deliver what’s needed — charming, witty, sometimes sly — but it’s the staging that lingers, not the faces.

And that’s my sticking point. I admire the elegance, the irony, even the bite, but I never felt swept up in the whirl. La Ronde is powered by lust and fuelled by hypocrisy — stylish, slyly sharp, endlessly in motion. I was left outside peering through the glass, which, come to think of it, may be exactly the point.

Probably a great film if you could understand a word of it - La Ronde review by JK

In the 21st century is it really still impossible to subtitle foreign films (or indeed any films needing them) so that people can actually read them?

This film was frustrating and we gave up half way through because the subtitles were totally unreadable. If the background is black there's not much point having black subtitles. Conversely, white ones printed over images of people crossing the desert or in snowy surroundings aren't much help either.

Sorry - it was a highly rated film in its day and was probably very good - we'll never know.