Search - La Ronde [Criterion Collection] on DVD

Content Advisory: Adult Humor, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1950 DVD Release: 09/16/2008 Format: DVD - Black and White Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 33 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 17 Genres: Comedy, Comedy of Manners, Sex Comedy

An exercise in style, La Ronde was one of the few films of the 1950s to contain overtly sexual themes. The story is a series of character vignettes, set in Vienna in the early 1900s and held together by a narrator (Anton Walbrook). As the title implies, both the story and the film's visual motifs are circular. Director Max Ophuls uses an old-fashioned merry-go-round to foreshadow the film's events, in which each segment introduces a new character, who has an affair with a character from the previous scene. The film demands that the audience pay attention to the structure, to the interplay among the characters, and to the opulent visual elements; and the effect is synergistic delight, in which the viewer is engaged both visually and intellectually. Because it was filmed in black-and-white, La Ronde does not have the garish look of some of Ophuls' other films, notably Lola Montès. La Ronde is among the few foreign language films to receive multiple Oscar nominations, for Black & White Art Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide

Anton Walbrook - The Master of Ceremonies
Simone Signoret - Leocadie, the Prostitute
Serge Reggiani - Franz, the Soldier
Simone Simon - Marie, the Maid
Daniel Gélin - Alfred
Danielle Darrieux - Emma Breitkopf
Fernand Gravey - Charles, Emma's Husband
Odette Joyeux - The Grisette
Jean-Louis Barrault - Robert Kuhlenkampf
Isa Miranda - The Actress
Gérard Philipe - The Count