Le Plaisir is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel

Le Plaisir (1952)100 minComedy, Drama, RomanceRating 71/100

Roving with his dazzlingly mobile camera around the decadent ballrooms, bucolic countryside retreats, urban bordellos, and painter's studios of late nineteenth-century French life, Max Ophuls brings his astonishing visual dexterity and storytelling bravura to this triptych of tales by Guy de Maupassant about the limits of spiritual and physical pleasure. Featuring a stunning cast of French stars (including Danielle Darrieux, Jean Gabin, and Simone Simon), Le plaisir pinpoints the cruel ironies and happy compromises of life with a charming and sophisticated breeziness.

Cast: Claude Dauphin, Gaby Morlay, Madeleine Renaud, Ginette Leclerc, Mila Parély, Danielle Darrieux, Pierre Brasseur

Director: Max Ophüls