La Ronde

La Ronde features a cyclical structure that I found a bit too neat for my liking, but I was surprised at how powerful each vignette of that rotation could become via a few seconds of careful camerawork or of subtly nuanced acting. The fun of La Ronde comes from the way each character gets to take a “turn” in the lover’s carousel, each playing the role that their partner demands of them. The contrasts in the acting styles of each respective actor are what makes these almost-dual roles come to life.

Anton Walbrook is wry and knowing as the character who best represents Ophüls the director: setting the stage, lighting the lights, and letting his/her actors loose. Walbrook takes care of the characters, placing them where they need to be and ensuring that their liaisons carry on uninterrupted. Danielle Darrieux’s section especially is a beautiful study in naturalistic acting – she illustrates Jean Renoir’s assertion that “everyone has their reasons” with a mere glance; one can see why Ophüls would use her again in his masterpiece, The Earrings of Madame de…

Ophüls’ camerawork is occasionally showy, but it works towards advancing the main idea of the movie; namely, that films are only rounds in which the viewer sees archetypes play out the same roles that have been used over the thousands of years of human storytelling. The telling of the story, the way that it is presented to the viewer, is where one can find something new and exciting, and in Ophüls’ camerawork, the viewer can find wonder in a world that he has made in such an obvious and artificial manner.

La Ronde is a good turn and the central tune that Walbrook sings has been stuck in my head for days.