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Elena And Her Men

1956, Movie, NR, 86 mins

Elena And Her Men: Review

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Comparing the star of this picture with Venus, director Jean Renoir said that for a long time he "had been dying to make something gay with Ingrid Bergman... [he] wanted to see her laughing and smiling on the screen." She did that and much more in this critically assaulted tale of a beautiful Polish princess in Paris in the 1880s. As Princess Elena Sorokowska, she romances men in the hopes of bringing them great success and presents each with a marguerite, her favorite flower. She funnels her affections to Francois Rollan (Jean Marais), a general with plans to become a dictator after a coup d'etat. Because of her past successes in catapulting men to fame and good fortune, she believes she can do the same for him. It takes Henri de Chevincourt (Mel Ferrer), a young count and a friend, to convince her to change her feelings about immortalizing men. As with so many truly great movies, the public harshly attacked the film, which had been recut and dubbed by Warner Bros. "A mishmash," "a shock," and "a farrago" were just some of the critical stones hurled at Renoir, as was another suggestion that he throw the film in the Seine. On the plus side, however, Jean-Luc Godard has called it "the most intelligent film in the world." Though all the above descriptions are exaggerated, this is a fantastic film. It is filled with patented Renoirisms, from the utter sincerity of the emotions to the exceptional impressionistic composition. (In French; English subtitles.) leave a comment
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