Lola Montès (Max Ophüls)

Show & Culture

Film by Max Ophüls (France–Germany, 1955), starring Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov and Anton Walbrook. synopsis Under a giant circus tent, a ringmaster presents Lola Montès, Countess Maria Dolorès de Lansfeld, and her “extraordinary life performed by the entire troupe in pantomimes, acrobatics, tableaux vivants with music and dance.” The show retraces the tumultuous life of this former courtesan who turned so many heads across Europe… An absolute masterpiece, a visual symphony in CinemaScope format, with colours as dazzling as “American ties” (Max Ophuls), but a commercial failure with a Parisian audience disappointed that the erotic film they had been promised was not delivered, Lola Montès was butchered by panicked producers after its release in December 1955. The film was splendidly restored in 2006, the result of a collaboration between the Cinémathèque française and Les Films du Jeudi. The Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg was able to contribute to this restoration with a positive working print containing shots unavailable anywhere else. This restoration made it possible to recover the original splendour of Lola Montès, restoring its colours, sound and original editing.