Le Plaisir on DVD (1951)

A customer from Sheffield, South Yorkshire , 26/11/2006

Le Plaisir tells 3 stories from Maupassant dealing with old age, purity and marriage. They are really moral tales but told in an undogmatic and straightforward way. They are quickly paced and visually interesting, directed with a lightness of touch. Rural scenes of Normandy are beautifully shot with the second tale showing a group of prostitutes on an outing to the country and delighting in the long grass and collecting huge bunches of wild flowers. The scene where this group and their madame attend a christening in church in the village is a singularly creative tour de force. More Ophuls is a must.

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

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Savage from London, England [Highly rated reviewer] , 05/01/2007

One of the great Ophuls' very greatest films, this collection of three short Maupassant stories covers in his characteristically elegant manner all of human existence and presents it in bitter-sweet fashion. The old man trying to regain his youth; the prostitutes bringing happiness to their town and finding innocence in a village (featuring Jean Gabin); and the artist and his girlfriend, caught in the inescapable tangle of love. Each is done with delicacy and style, shot with a fluid, inquisitive camera, always with half an eye on the audience ourselves, and replete with a wry, omniscient voice-over. Wit and intelligence and emotion combine in a manner almost unique in cinema. Warmly recommended.

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Richmond , 31/12/2007

Different.

Quite good if you like pictures or country fables of French life.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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chauncey from devon [Highly rated reviewer] , 26/11/2006

Not the greatest Ophuls movie, but still enough style/tragedy to keep you interested.

The second story drags, but the third is pure cinema.

  1 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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chauncey from devon [Highly rated reviewer] , 26/11/2006

Not the greatest Ophuls movie, but still enough style/tragedy to keep you interested.

The second story drags, but the third is pure cinema.

  1 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Moray, Scotland , 08/11/2008

I adore Guy de Maupassant's writings. In my view this film does not do them justice, missing a lot of the subtle nuances of Maupassant's writing and turning the vignettes into mere 'quaint stories', rather than the political and moral commentary that the original stories were.

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