La Ronde

One of the most erotic scenes I have ever seen comes from "La Ronde", it's where French chambermaid Simone Simon seduces her young employer. Let's be clear, there is no sex in this scene, but there is the anticipation of it; whatever happens afterwards is implied by the closing of a window, and then the window re-opening in the next scene to suggest that they just had sex. Maybe it's just that in this scene I wish I was that young man, and being alone in the house with a sexy siren like Simone Simon as a french chambermaid with only one thing on our minds. I'm sure french chambermaids exist in real life, but it was probably the movies that made the idea of them so erotic. Perhaps I've said too much, suffice it to say "La Ronde" has invented a french chambermaid sexual fantasy for me, and for the record, I don't find anything wrong with that.

"La Ronde" is a film about sex, but it's also a film about love and passion, all three things go hand in hand. It's an all star movie that takes place in different vignettes; following each character from one lover to another. There is a master of ceremonies in the whole film, a raconteur as played by German actor Anton Walbrook. Walbrook plays not only the narrator, but he also seems to be in control of all the character's destiny. We see him operate a merry go-round that spins around as the characters interact, making love, talking about love, or participating in some kind of flirtation. The action takes place in Vienna in 1900; the past, or as Walbrook puts it "when the future seemed more certain". The film begins with a prostitute (Simone Signoret) and it will end with her as the film comes full circle like the merry go-round Walbrook operates. The Prostitute has a brief encounter with a soldier (Serge Regianni), the soldier seeks out a maid (Simon), the maid then seeks out the young man Alfred (Daniel Gelin), the young man then has an affair with an older married woman (Danielle Darrieux) and so on, and so on...

Each vignette deals with the subject of love and sex, sometimes it's playful, sometimes it's profound, but they all air a certain amount of poignancy and philosophy. One of the best scenes comes from a married couple they are both lying in separate beds. This scene comes about half way through the film and is probably the one time we don't imagine this couple doing it. The husband is middle aged, and rather average looking, he is concentrated on something else rather than his wife, we can see why she has chosen to have an affair with a younger man. However the scene turns into a conversation between the two. The man seems to recognize the woman has been unfaithful, yet he doesn't seem upset (of course we will be seeing him carry on an affair with a younger woman in the very next scene). In fact despite both of their infidelity, we find that there seems to be a kind of love there if not at all sexual, but more a deep respect. The scene closes with husband and wife holding hands, it is perhaps the most honest scene in the film.

Not all scenes hit this amount of honesty, some are all out farcical such as the scene between the poet (Jean-Louis Barrault) and the actress (Isa Miranda). They begin having a fight over the lines the poet has written for a play starring the actress. Both are seen as very strong-willed individuals, hence the attraction, yet the scene plays rather quickly compared to the other scenes, we get the sense that the attraction is very fleeting and love doesn't always play into the equation.

"Ra Ronde" was directed by Max Ophuls who had a flair for creating wonderful superficial aesthetics, and this is no exception, his world is a fantasy world, we know it's make believe. Walbrook's character is more or less a fill in for Ophuls, he does the same thing a director does, he controls the characters, he lets you see what he wants you to see. In one particular funny and telling scene, Ophuls cuts to a scene with Walbrook editing film when the scene begins to get too racy.

Ophuls was also a master a camera movement, he actually influenced Stanley Kubrick who would pay homage to Ophuls in part with his long tracking shots in "Paths of Glory", and you could see the influence in full effect with "The Shining". In "Ra Ronde" Ophuls moves the camera beautifully, there is an exquisite shot of a couple dancing a waltz yet they are really on a platform that moves around for them as if they are floating (He would use this trick to even greater effect in his masterpiece "The Earrings of Madame de..."). They are dancing in front of a carousel as the camera moves with them, it's a wonderful romantic fluid movement that elates the viewer.

But let's not be shy and bring up the ongoing theme of this whole film, which is sex. The film isn't coy with the natural instincts of its characters, sometimes they do it out of love, sometimes out of boredom, but Ophuls makes it clear that it's something in all of us. Sex is something Hollywood rarely does well anymore, there is a great fear of eroticism in the movies today. As you can guess by the title, "Ra Ronde" was made in France but was mostly disregarded by critics as a superficial sex romp, but now it seems like a very liberating film, and it's also very sexy. The women in this film, particularly Simon, Signoret, and Darrieux were filmed beautifully like the stars they were. They were aloud to exhibit and exude sex, today's women seem to be restrained by comparison.

"La Ronde" has a lot in common with the best films by Lubitsch who was the master of showing sex on screen without really showing it. It's tantalizing, and teasing. It shows you exactly what you need to see and leaves the rest to your imagination. "La Ronde" shows that love and sex go hand in hand, it's within us to explore it and talk about it. Sex shouldn't be taboo, it's a topic that can be funny, sad, and profound, they bring up true human emotions, and as this film shows, it's something that can be very beautiful. Now about that French chambermaid....