Le Plaisir (Directors Suite)

One of Max Ophüls most successful films — and a favourite of Jean-Luc Godard and Stanley Kubrick — Le Plaisir is, simply, about pleasure. Adapted from three short stories by the father of modern short-story writing, Guy de Maupassant, each segment revels in joie de vivre: an old man regains his youth with the aid of a magic mask; on a bucolic outing with her colleagues, a prostitute experiences romance; while the third story focuses on the love between an artist and his model.

Using beautifully fluid lensing, Ophüls' camera drinks in the decadent ballrooms, countryside estates and urban structures of late nineteenth-century France, demonstrating the skill so greatly admired by audience, critics and filmmakers alike. Le Plaisir pinpoints the ironic moments and necessary compromises of life with charm and sophistication. An enchanting tribute to desire and pleasure.