Better late than never...The Fourth of July was spent, appropriately enough for a film nerd, inside of a cool movie theater watching Max Ophuls's classic, and probably most famous film, The Earrings of Madame de... The highly regarded opening shot swoops through Louise's (Danielle Darrieux) dressing room where she picks over her wardrobe of expensive furs, jewelry and dresses--with not a single camera cut to interrupt the action--finally settling upon a pair of earrings, which she will sell to pay debt. No ordinary dangles, these bejeweled beauties were a gift from her husband, the unlovable and possessive Général André (Charles Boyer), who learns of her betrayal though never confronts her about it. Fatefully, the earrings pass among owners until they fall into the hands of Louise's lover, Baron Fabrizio Donati (Vittorio De Sica), and Louise is gifted with the jewels once again. Her husband who has always been suspicious of her affair now, finally has proof.
The real beauty of the film emerges at this point, when the rather spoiled Louise becomes tragically sympathetic as she is forbidden contact with her true love; Général André has her locked in a room under close watch and with full knowledge that Louise no longer loves him. He is a man so jealously insecure that he has caged himself into a relationship that will always hold a void of tenderness and care. In the most profound show of affection, in silence and long-distance, Louise and Fabrizio are bound together in love--even if they can't physically be together.
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