Max Ophuls - Le Plaisir

(aka 'House of Pleasure" or "Pleasure')

Directed by Max Ophuls
USA 1952

Made after the commercial success of La Ronde, this portmanteau film from director Max Ophuls is an impressively fluid adaptation of three short stories by Guy De Maupassant

The second film made by Ophuls in France after his return from Hollywood, Le Plaisir was championed by Jean-Luc Godard as "the greatest film made in France since the Liberation."

It begins with a dark screen, and the narrator 'Maupassant' (the voice of Servais) informing us that, "I'm talking in the dark as if I were beside you", immediately reminding us that we are spectators in a cinematic experience. The first section of the triptych unfolds in nineteenth century Paris at a packed dance hall, where a male reveller faints and is tended to by a doctor (Dauphin). It transpires that the masked figure is actually an old man attempting to cling on to his youth, and that the patient's loving wife (Morlay) tolerates his compulsive behaviour.

The next and longest segment, 'Maison Tellier', described in the voiceover as "a fairy-tale for grown-ups", follows the women from a Normandy brothel on their exuberant trip to the countryside to attend the first communion of their madam's niece. And the concluding tale, 'The Model', traces the deteriorating relationship between a painter (Gelin) and his beautiful muse (Simone Simon).

Excerpt from Tom Dawson's review at Channel 4 located HERE.

Poster

Theatrical Release: February 29th, 1952

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DVD Review: Second Sight Films - Region 2 - PAL

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All 4 Second Sight Ophuls Films/DVD

Distribution

Second Sight Films - Region 2 - PAL

Runtime

1:33:00

Video

1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.34 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio

French (Dolby Digital 2.0)

Subtitles

None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: Second Sight Films

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• Featurette: A Journey Through Le Plaisir (54:40)

• Introduction by Todd Haynes (17:40)
• Moments From Le Plaisir (static screen click-thru)
• Featurette From Script to Screen (19:53)

DVD Release Date: September 18th, 2006
Keep Case
Chapters: 16

Comments:

This transfer looks very nice - exceptionally strong detail and very pure contrast (there may be some slight boosting, but it is not blanketed and therefore considered a form of restoration - that is, if it is prevalent at all).

A Journey Through le Plaisir , almost 1 hour, is a fabulous extra - solid information on both the film and Ophuls - worth the price of the disc alone. Todd Haynes gives another great introduction and there is another featurette - From Script to Screen. Only lacking a commentary this has some substantial extras - very worthwhile viewing in my opinion.

I'm very appreciative that this and the other Ophuls DVDs came out - quality is better than I anticipated and the films are must-owns for serious films fans. We again recommend!

Gary W. Tooze

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