Un amour de Swann

Beautiful images, great set design, and clever casting. One of the few films where we can point to the mastery of all the major professions and not lose the resulting experience in academic tedium. The Theme from Proust, the screenplay by Carrière, the cinematography by Nykvist, and directed by Schlöndorff. It would have been enough for the whole thing to fall apart in ambition and empty platitudes, but this way it is tempting to look at, alluringly erotic and yet not banal in its final thought. (16/06/2017)

Swann In Love should be avoided by viewers who consider the storyline and tension important because both are not only lacking but literally completely missing. Schlöndorff aims to capture the atmosphere of the French upper class of the late 19th century. It is a world that is not in a hurry because its inhabitants do not really have to deal with material matters. They are not affected by the concerns of ordinary people or the political problems of the French Republic. In this world, the topic of conversation is a friend's love scandal or participation in a fashion party. And a black dress combined with red shoes is a pitiable scandal. Schlöndorff is not aiming for any social critique, but even so, this intimate view of the actions of the French nobility and the wealthy is not particularly charming. There is a sense of anti-Semitism and the Dreyfus affair in the air, and one somehow feels that while the attacks of French anarchists of that time may not be justified, after this excursion one at least understands them. In any case, one can admire the dresses of the ladies and the charm of the mature, but still very attractive, Ornella Muti. Overall impression: 60%. (04/04/2017)