American Cinematographer - September 2008 - (Page 65) Germanic,” while another wrote, “In Lola Montès, the aesthetics of gurgling and rumbling are blended with the aesthetics of whipped cream.” Ophüls and his film were resolutely defended by other critics, however, especially François Truffaut, who wrote in Arts magazine, “If we have to fight, we will fight; if we have to argue about this, then we will argue.” Other filmmakers, including Roberto Rossellini, Jean Cocteau and Jacques Tati, also defended the picture. Unfortunately, their support was in vain, and the production company demanded Ophüls make changes to the movie. Reluctantly, he cut out three minutes, including the middle of a scene between Lola and one of her lovers, composer Franz Liszt. He also replaced German dialogue with French and turned the original four-track magnetic stereo soundtrack into a mono optical track with a less stylized, more conventional mix. But audiences did not respond to Ophüls’ re-edit, which was released in February 1956, and the producers subsequently embarked on one of the most flagrant violations of artists’ rights in movie history. Without involving the director, the production company created another edit that Images courtesy of Films du Jeudi and Marcel Ophüls. destroyed Ophüls’ nonlinear narrative structure, which was based around flashbacks, and shortened the picture by more than 30 minutes. Scenes were reorganized to appear in chronological order, Ophüls’ long dissolves were removed, and a voiceover narration was added. Over Ophüls’ objections, this version was released in 1957, and it fared no better than its predecessors. Ophüls died shortly thereafter. Now, thanks to an 18- month restoration by the Thomson Foundation for Film and Television Heritage, the Cinémathèque Française, the film’s rights owners (Films du Jeudi and Marcel Ophüls) and the Franco-American Cultural Fund (with additional funding by L’Oréal and Agnès B), Lola Montès can be seen in its original form for the first time since 1955. “It was the restoration of a movie that didn’t exist,” says Tom Burton, vice president of Technicolor Digital Opposite: In a scene from Lola Montès, which was recently restored at Technicolor Digital Services, Lola (Martine Carol) contemplates a surprise offer to join a circus and re-enact her unusual life story. This page: The circus master (Peter Ustinov) introduces Lola to a full house and begins the show. American Cinematographer 65
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