Circle of Love (1964)

Sadly Over-hyped

not as good as all the hype

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Second adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play "Reigen", first filmed by director Max Ophüls in 1950 as "La Ronde", gets the Roger Vadim treatment, which is to say it is most certainly a sumptuous display but one with nothing happening beyond the pretty window dressing. Time and place have been changed from the original version--we are now in 1913 Paris instead of 1900 Vienna--but the story is the same: a prostitute offers herself to soldier who resembles the only man she ever loved; the soldier goes on to seduce a housemaid, who in turn makes love with the son of her employer. Vadim and scenarist Jean Anouilh have eliminated the Raconteur (a fatal mistake), and so we are set adrift amidst well-upholstered sets and superbly dressed and coiffed ladies, lost among the vapid players, dull romantic talk and teasing glimpses of flesh. Jane Fonda lets her bare back steal her bed scenes. The dazzling opening credits sequence and Michel Magne's lovely background score are assets, as is Henri Decaë's rich color cinematography. *1/2 from ****

Updates the 1950 masterpiece to Paris in 1914, shot in rich colour with evocative music, dance and song. A witty script from Jean Anouilh travels through the emotions lightly and, this being France, has slightly weightier moments of literature and philosophy. Since the men are close to being caricature lovers from a sex farce, which some of the time this is, the film belongs to the women. And what a wonderful collection of beautiful, sexy, so often poignant women! Top billing probably has to go to a gorgeous Jane Fonda, then the lover of the director and later his wife, as a young bourgeois wife. But several others play her close: Anna Karina as the housemaid Rose, Catherine Spaak as the mystery girl, Francine Bergé as the actress Maximilienne, and Marie Dubois as the soft-hearted Breton tart. All good roles, taken with gusto and a joy to watch.

There are a few moments in this film that transport you almost bodily back to Arthur Schnitzler's play REIGEN; the first is a long shot of Anna Karina sitting, lonely and abandoned, in a crowded dance-hall while her soldier boyfriend (Claude Giraud) makes time with other women. The unspoken pain that Karina radiates in this scene is palpable (it's also yet another reminder that she was often the only good thing about several films directed by her then-husband, Jean-Luc Godard).More laurels to Jane Fonda, who is wickedly funny as a cheating wife whose fear of getting caught far surpasses any moral qualms she may have about committing adultery. The scenes with her twit of a boyfriend (Jean-Claude Brialy) and her pompous hypocrite of a husband (Maurice Ronet) genuinely sparkle.Alas, the rest of the film is mostly middlebrow ooo-lah-lah; pretty sets and costumes, lovely photography by Henri Decae, and a great title sequence by Maurice Binder. The actors are all certainly competent and then some, but few of their performances really score. And the film as a whole has neither the savage aim of Schnitzler's original play or the gentler wit of Max Ophul's 1950 film of the material. I suppose it gave audiences a few naughty frissons back in the mid-60's, but not enough real entertainment . . .

I remember first seeing Jane Fonda in this movie back in 64. She was the most beautiful woman i had ever seen. Jane was married to Roger Vadim the director, the lucky b*****d.This movie was made in France and as such there was not too much censorship at that time. I hope that in the near future all of Janes early movies will be on dvd. I do recommend this movie for any fan of Jane Fonda.