MADAME DE... (1953) -- Louise vs. Her Possession(s)

The sublime opening scene of Ophuls' towering masterpiece, in which he initiates a dynamic correspondence with the viewer through his coded imagery. With a single, deceptively incisive take, his camera glides around a lavish bedchamber alongside the eponymous heroine to whom all this grandeur (presumably) belongs. In a tantalising move, the director denies his audience an unobstructed view of this enigmatic woman until over half of his scenic interrogation is complete; the innumerable jewels and mirrors that shimmer amidst the velvets and furs offering more available and immediate pleasures. When the mystery of his protagonist's visage is finally revealed to us, she appears not in front of the camera, but instead as a reflection in a table mirror. Swiftly, the facade of opulence is unclothed before our eyes: for all her self-evident economic clout, this elegant female is a crucial constituent of the commodity-infested environment that's so blinding on screen. Although her gaze stares back at the audience, her physical presence as the film's subject is overwhelmed by the parade of surrounding props, thereby propelling her withdrawal into objectification. Our perception of those commodities now undergoes a significant transition: no longer are they gloriously enticing symbols of wealth and power, for they now morph into instruments of covert patriarchal oppression; symptomatic of a "trophy wife" culture that's adhered to all too fervently. In hindsight, it's uncomfortably incongruous of Madame de... to state that "I can do as I like with them" when discussing her valuables this early on - her chimera of independence is negated by the exact materials that furnish her fantasy. Already, the mountains that she must climb in order to exact her personal will are dauntingly visible in the distance.

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Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• max
• ophuls
• madame
• de
• danielle
• darrieux
• french
• cinema
• classics
• romance
• belle
• epoque
• aristocracy
• objectification
• commodification