Continues Ophuls' fascination with fragmented narratives; unfortunately, the plot gets short shrift as a result, feeling more like a series of spectacles than a cohesive, engaging story. But what spectacle it is. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more opulent film, and the camerawork, set pieces, costuming and use of color are magnificent. Too shallow to be great, but much too dazzling to be dispensable.

It's looks beautiful and all that, but nothing about this movie interested me at all.

"A bodice-ripper invested with the profundity of a Stendhal novel, Lola Montes is also, even more than La Ronde, Ophüls's definite commentary on movie-watching." - Fernando F. Croce

#278

There were a few things that bothered me about Lola Montes; we don't really get to know the character of Lola until about 50 minutes in, and the film could have used another flashback showing us her transformation (when she left Lieutenant James and became a dancer). Despite the problems with cohesiveness, it was fun to watch, but at the same time depicted the tragic parts of Lola's story very effectively.

276

Displays all the magnificently choreographed camera movement that you expect from Ophuls. The framework is an interesting device that allows for a lot of spectacle. But it's kinda dull, and I didn't feel at all engrossed by Lola or her activities. There's a hint of a feminist idea here, but Ophuls seems reluctant to commit, alternately portraying Lola as a free-spirited heroine and a passive victim of male-dominated society. Nice cinematography, but so far the weakest film I've seen from Ophuls.

# 256

Pretty, but slow

Boring and uninvolving. I stopped watching it five times before I could finally get through it. My disinterest reached such a level that the subtitles started reading "Blah, blah' blah..."

"Lola" is more deliberate and detached than other Ophuls works, an appropriate attitude for a film that sees life as a circus where high-wire rises and tragic falls are merely episodes in an eternal pattern bounded by an unending circus ring. Ophul's camera--like life--is always in motion, and its movements are spectacularly beautiful.

After a great opening it becomes a little dry and stagy for a while, whisking us through incomplete moments in the life of Lola Montes. Replete with Ophuls' usual commentary on the plight of women, things pick up in the second half as the layers begin to fill in and we get to see some of the best shots in the film. Ophuls had done all of this stuff better earlier, but seeing him shoot in colour is worth it.

273

Whimsical, bittersweet, cleverly metatheatrical, and, most importantly, full of grand and delicious spectacle. The creative framing and neat juxtapositions make this consistently interesting, but the pacing and story quality are a bit inconsistent - I prefer the refinement of Madame De personally. Still it's very well crafted and definitely worth a watch.