Watch
Criterion Channel
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne

1945
Romance, Drama
1h 26m
Realizing that her lover (Jean) is losing interest in her, a society lady (Helene) gets revenge by tricking him into marrying a former prostitute (imdb)
Your probable score
?

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne

1945
Romance, Drama
1h 26m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 57.68% from 275 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(275)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 10 Feb 2007
98
99th
Bresson has an uncanny understanding of the female psyche. Seldom in cinema are female characters so real, complex and multi-faceted. There is something distinctly feminine about the psychological drama and intrigue that make up Ladies of the Park. The male character is almost just a platform for the truly fascinating women to play off of. While not quite as perfect as the preceding Angels of the Streets, I still consider this a near-perfect film, Bresson's second best.
Rated 01 Feb 2009
87
87th
This is rather different stylistically from later Bresson films, but that doesn't make it any less great. María Casares gives a great performance that makes you simultaneously sympathize with her and find her despicable, a hard balancing act indeed. The plot is very well developed and the ending is just as it should be.
Rated 22 Jun 2009
91
91st
One of Bresson's early efforts, and his last making use of professional actors. The familiarity with a more mainstream style makes this one of Bresson's more accessible works, and it shows hints of how his style would develop in future films. Here we also find a more overtly hopeful Bresson, a director less concerned (skilled?) with underplaying the implications of the narrative. The film builds to a beautiful conclusion, even if, stylistically, it is a little out of place among Bresson's oeuvre
Rated 04 Oct 2014
50
29th
Knowing that this was written by Cocteau and directed by Bresson resulted in a quite disappointing watch. But even by regular (much less excellent) standards, this is a pretty weak drama.
Rated 16 Nov 2007
85
73rd
"Ladies of the Park"!?!?? Please can we not have the original title listed; that's just awful. A great film, by the way, some 30 years ahead of its time.
Rated 01 Mar 2008
78
64th
# 447
Rated 09 Sep 2014
80
80th
Steamy romance isn't really Bresson's strongest suit. However, the devilish way the wounded Helene lures her two victims into her trap is worthy of the best femme fatales of its film noir cousins. Bresson's signature ascetic style is less evident in this poetic realism'ish melodrama, which makes it feel more like Jean Cocteau's film.
Rated 30 Nov 2011
76
52nd
#480
Rated 19 Dec 2008
75
50th
502
Rated 31 Aug 2015
57
76th
Fascinating look at early Bresson, and a mostly subtle and rich romantic drama, that oddly reminded me of Rossellini's rom-drama period [w/ Ingrid Bergman]. This is before RB cast non-actors, and it is clearly advantageous here, before developing the stark formalism he's so admired for. The cast is almost uniformly excellent, but Casares is particularly outstanding, with her intelligent, Chloë Sevigny-esque face and slanted smile. A compelling enough plot manages to go a bit off-rail, however.
Rated 02 Jan 2015
50
0th
Robert Bresson #1
Rated 14 Jan 2010
77
54th
457
Rated 05 Feb 2012
65
6th
Bresson'un kendisinden uzak pek ilgilenmedigim bir filmi.
Rated 05 Jul 2013
74
33rd
Bresson's film is filled with unlikable characters circling around one unfortunate soul, Agnes. Suffers some from its outdated character views, but still works for the most part.
Rated 27 Sep 2012
60
22nd
a completely uninteresting story told in a completely uninteresting way. I have yet to discover what, supposedly, is so fantastic about bresson.
Rated 10 Mar 2013
62
55th
love always win, huh?
Rated 14 Aug 2007
77
60th
Good camera work, nice performances, well-written, keeps you interested. Watchable, but not great. It's also hard to relate to the outdated moral dilemmas that drive the movie. But the actors do a good job of conveying why it matters so much to them, so it's not a big deal.
Rated 14 Mar 2019
87
49th
87.00
Rated 11 Jan 2020
70
56th
There are some well-crafted shots, but the real highlight here for me was Cocteau's script. Focuses in on the duplicity surrounding the main cast and how it informs their dialogue. It did take me a minute to figure out the rather outdated conceit behind this entire story though.
Rated 02 Mar 2020
60
89th
I don't think this would have gotten as much attention if it hadn't been a early Robert Bresson creation. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie. Just not a remarkable one. What I liked about it was the simple elegance to it all. While he could have easily sensationalized the story, it's rather a gentle and genuine approach to this troubled romance. That opened my heart to it.
Rated 22 Sep 2020
86
80th
As Damas do Bois de Boulogne estreava há 75 anos em Paris. Excelente, mas ainda não entra no rol das obras-primas perpetradas por Bresson nos anos futuros. Plus: María Casares é uma espécie de versão morena da Chloe Sevigny. DVDRip no MakingOff.
Rated 21 Oct 2021
75
80th
It's already Bresson's economic filmmaking at its poignant best. Two lovers drift apart and she plots a complex revenge: try to hook up her former boyfriend with a former cabaret dancer -- the prostitute and her mom actually manage to escape that dangerous, degrading life because of Helene, only to discover they just fall into another cage (dancer can't work because every man in Paris know her). Such a delicious game of manipulation marvelously written by Cocteau.
Rated 14 Aug 2022
84
88th
Cocteau's screenplay is masterful--hardly an extraneous word, much less line, of dialogue, and Bresson matched it by filming it cleanly (almost clinically) and beautifully. This is romantic (somehow that doesn't seem like quite the right word) manipulation on the order of "Les liaisons dangéreuses"...the cruelty with which she treats her "friends" from the country is breathtaking. One thinks the poor schmuck should have known better, but one feels sorry for him anyway.
Rated 01 Oct 2022
79
67th
Very strong early Bresson. I often find his films a bit cold, but this one is less stylistically cold than future entries. It's a relatively simple story well told with good performances and dynamics between the characters and very competent filmmaking. Probably not particularly memorable, but there's very little to say to criticize it. Just a really solid movie.
Rated 15 Mar 2023
60
62nd
A hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold gets caught in a scorned woman's trap, leading her into marriage and forcing her to confess, but fortunately she promises to be faithful, almost dies of shame, and miraculously receives forgiveness. In A GENTLE WOMAN, we will see how quickly the promises of such trapped girls can turn into disappointment and despair. Here, however, the structure of the plot is more “classical”, the pleasures of the dialogue more conventional, and the result…more or less the same.
Rated 08 Jun 2023
55
42nd
Watching a group of unlikable people manipulating and deceiving each other and making everyone's life miserable as a result I not something I find enjoyable. Had I cared about anyone in this it might have worked better.

Collections

(27)
Compact view
Showing 1 - 24 of 27 results

Similar Titles

Loading ...

Statistics

Loading ...

Trailer

No Trailer