Lola Montez
If there is anything that I have found unpleasant about “Lola Montès”, I would say it’s the fact that I had to think about the film while desperately trying to sleep. There is an incredible tragedy about the story and as bitchy as the character of Lola Montez might be, she is portrayed as very fascinating and in some ways idealistic and romantic as well. These femme fatales are exemplary for woman who have actively become slaves of men. I think there is nothing as tragic as that, and the type of woman is probably dead by now because our society has progressed from this stage where a woman can be successful to a point like this by selling her body, her relationships and her reputation. Nowadays, there are many other possibilities for a woman to become rich and famous, where at the same time, some dances and good looks are not enough anymore to make you so notoriously successful.
Of course Lola Montez’ life is romanticized, and in reality there probably is none of this love between her and Ludwig. (Does that surprise anyone at all?) But, this is not quite what the movie is about: I am rather bored of the story itself, even though I find its content fascinating, just like it was the case with “Capote”. I also don’t quite like the actors or any of the characters except for my deep love for Oskar Werner. What makes the film great probably entirely lies in Ophüls’ directing: I love the way the story is told and especially like how the circus scenes create a beautifully symbolic entourage to Lola’s life. Two scenes at the end, when she admits she does not have hope anymore, and when you saw her behind bars letting men kiss her hand, came off extremely powerful because of how they were directed. It is there that the whole tragedy of the story was imminent to me. I wouldn’t say this film is style over substance, because I found the story-telling to be pretty smart, but boy does it look good!
In the end I decided to be an Ophüls fan (or more like, a fan of his films) and I am looking forward to the Ophüls retrospective the Zeughaus is showing. As an old Schnitzler fan, I am mostly looking forward to “Liebelei” and “Reigen”, but I also want to see the rest.