Dir. Max Ophüls, 1953, France, 100 min, 35 mm, black & white
With Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica
In French with English subtitles

Oscar Nominee for Best Costume Design

The most cherished work from French master Max Ophüls, The Earrings of Madame de… is a profoundly emotional, cinematographically adventurous tale of deceptive opulence and tragic romance. When an aristocratic woman known only as Madame de… sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.

Ophüls’s adaptation of Louise de Vilmorin’s incisive fin de siècle novel employs to ravishing effect the elegant and precise camera work for which the director is so justly renowned.

Arnaud Desplechin says about the film “In Max Ophüls’ Madame de, Danielle Darrieux suffocates under the obligations of marriage. Infidelity will be the risky path she takes to remember herself. And, following along through the film on this journey of a gem, we encounter the twists and turns of desire.”

“A superb film and a matchless trio of performances.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian