An opulent and visually magnificent spectacle about the famous 19th century courtesan, who caused the abdication of a king (Louis I of Bavaria) and ended as a circus attraction in America. The film achieves a near-baroque complexity through its extravagant camera movements and the use of deep-focus photography. Many superbly directed, long-take sequences have a completely mobile camera following characters up and down the stairs, through doors, behind columns and windows, tracking, panning and tilting in various directions simultaneously, ultimately achieving a feeling of unrestrained freedom of movement.
May 15, 1970
Lola Montes (1955) ****
An opulent and visually magnificent spectacle about the famous 19th century courtesan, who caused the abdication of a king (Louis I of Bavaria) and ended as a circus attraction in America. The film achieves a near-baroque complexity through its extravagant camera movements and the use of deep-focus photography. Many superbly directed, long-take sequences have a completely mobile camera following characters up and down the stairs, through doors, behind columns and windows, tracking, panning and tilting in various directions simultaneously, ultimately achieving a feeling of unrestrained freedom of movement.
