Directed by Max Ophuls • 1955 • France, West Germany
Starring Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov
LOLA MONTÈS is a visually ravishing, narratively daring dramatization of the life of the notorious courtesan and showgirl, played by Martine Carol. With his customary cinematographic flourish and, for the first time, vibrant color, Max Ophuls charts the course of Montès’s scandalous past through the invocations of the bombastic ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) of the American circus where she has ended up performing. Ophuls’s final film, LOLA MONTÈS is at once a magnificent romantic melodrama, a meditation on the lurid fascination with celebrity, and a one-of-a-kind movie spectacle.
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Street of Shame
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi • 1956 • Japan
For his final film, Mizoguchi brought a lifetime of experience to bear on the heartbreaking tale of a brothel full of women whose dreams are constantly being shattered by the socioeconomic realities surrounding them. Set in Tokyo's Red Light District (t...
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Vivre sa vie
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard • 1962 • France
Starring Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André LabartheVIVRE SA VIE (a.k.a. MY LIFE TO LIVE) was a turning point for Jean-Luc Godard and remains one of his most dynamic films, combining brilliant visual design with a tragic character study. The lovely Anna ...
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Belle de jour
Directed by Luis Buñuel • 1967 • France
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel PiccoliCatherine Deneuve’s porcelain perfection hides a cracked interior in one of the actress’s most iconic roles: Séverine, a Paris housewife who begins secretly spending her afternoon hours working in a b...
