Max Ophuls, 1953.
This has more humour in it than before, though again we have the woman being dominated, for all her assuredness, by the world of exchange, of cynical rich men. Indeed, there is a certain harshness on Ophuls portrayal, always, of his guilded world. They don't even listen to the music.
The sweeping camera movements are in place, playing a lovely dance, in extremely long takes that 'Russian Ark' style sweep through rooms. As are the superimpostions, with mirrors being smartly used here, framing various locales at once.
In this picture, everyone lies, even our heroine. Ophuls shows how they are forced to do so; what the consequences are. This plays against a backdrop the adjective 'sumptuous' can be applied to, for example the wonderful smoke filled train station. In tiny movements, little readjustments of the hands or gestures, Ophuls conveys so much.
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