Lola Montès 1955

Vincent Canby, New York Times: Ophuls makes the story of Lola Montes (Martine Carol), the successful nineteenth-century courtesan (if only so-so Spanish fandango dancer), into a visually dazzling, ironic commentary on celebrity. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: A baroque masterpiece by Max Ophuls, his last film (1955) and his only work in color and wide-screen. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Seen on a big screen, this is a movie to get drunk on. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Max Ophuls' 1955 masterpiece gets a superb restoration. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Lola Montes is mainly a triumph of vibrancy and metaphor. Nonetheless it's quite an experience. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: This exacting and sumptuous restoration of Max Ophuls's last film, from 1955, recovers not just the movie's look but also its meaning. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: I recommend Lola Montes wholeheartedly both for its sensuous delights and its ever exquisite artistry. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is all of a piece from beginning to end: The mood, the music, the remarkably fluid camera movement, the sets, the costumes. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: In some odd way, the huge production scale and marvelous widescreen color scheme make Lola Montes seem more distant and artificial than Ophuls' smaller-scale black-and-white films. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

Time Out: Ophuls conjures that space into life -- indeed, makes it the very subject of his film -- by means of the most sumptuous stylistic effects imaginable. Read more

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Some fetching period observation appears from time to time, but life is rarely breathed into this frilly opus. Read more

John Anderson, Washington Post: Watch Lola Montes and you may never watch a movie the same way again. Read more