The Joy of Filmmaking

The plot and the acting of La signora di tutti are a bit over-heated, but the filmmaking itself is so exuberant that somehow the whole thing is a real delight. Is there any kind of shot Ophuls does NOT use here? Gorgeous tracking shots, swooping shots, superimpositions, wipes . . . And then the editing too is way ahead of its time, with overlapping dialogue between two scenes, sudden dropouts of sound (for example, just before Gaby hallucinates the music coming from the fire), abrupt cuts . . . I suspect you could do a whole course in film technique just using this wonderful movie.

As an American viewer, I was unable to find this in a Region 1 format, but I was able to watch it on a region-free DVD player (thank heavens for such things!). My copy was from Eureka's Masters of Cinema series, and the image was often stunningly sharp.