Madame de... (DVD + Blu-ray)
A film by Max Ophuls

Cast: Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica, Jean Debucourt and Lia de Leo

When, beset by debt, the titular Countess Louise (Dannielle Darrieux) decides to sell a pair of earrings that were a wedding gift from her husband André (Charles Boyer), she unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that will have serious consequences not only for the Parisian couple but for André's mistress and for an Italian Baron (Vittorio De Sica), who purchased the, by then, much-travelled jewellery.
Featuring nuanced performances by all three lead actors and directed by celebrated auteur Max Ophuls, this intricately constructed and elegantly designed drama is a searing study of fateful passion wound up in deceits, deals and desires.

Special features:

• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Max Ophuls, le peintre de l amour fatal (Dominique Maillet, 2013, 61 mins): A documentary on Max Ophuls and the making of Madame de... featuring interviews with his collaborators
• Working with Max Ophuls (Robert Fischer, 2005, 26 mins): interview with Alain Jessua about his training under Max Ophuls and his experiences of working on Madame de...
• Illustrated booklet with writing by Laura Mulvey, Adrian Danks, and Lindsay Anderson, tributes t the director and full film credits

 

France, Italy| 1953 | black and white | French language, with English subtitles | 100 mins | original aspect ratio 1.37:1 | cert U | BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit), region B Blu-ray | DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (320kbps), region 2 DVD