The Golden Coach

A vivacious actress seems to be looking for the Goldilocks level of violently jealous man – not too much, not too little – only to eventually rediscover, gloriously yet melancholically, if not tragically, that her true path consists in that infinite extraordinariness that comes out of a not-so-ordinary ordinariness grounded in the theatrical composition of truth and fiction, reality and artifice, seriousness and laughter. Strangely sad, incredibly beautiful, wonderfully surprising, perfect end.

A delicious confection of gorgeous technicolor, brash and romantic spectacle, and broad, outlandish characters. It isn't particularly profound, but it is fun testament to the power of theatrical escapism.

A decent film but I hated Magnani's character so much that it completely ruined any interest I had in what was going on.

Jean Renoir with a colorfully staged stage drama, with a often odd tones to it. Has an allure, but wasn't always fine-tuned for my tastes. Anna Magnani will always be an attraction, though, even when out of her element, like in Renoir's world.

As with most Renoir, this is beautiful to look at and lavishly produced with great design, but the story didn't do a ton for me.

Renoir's leftist tendencies are present here, but unfortunately the film's politics still feel dated as it very much defends colonialism and doubles-down on the myth of the "noble savage." The best part was the actual commedia dell'arte scenes, but they're actually pretty sparingly peppered in and I would've like to have seen more. Renoir's usage of symbolism and visual subtext is great, but not enough to carry the rest of the film into greatness. Magnani is insanely charismatic.

Formally exquisite, a kind of nesting doll of a film. Renoir's typical social and class concerns are present, but the added layer of theatricality adds a compelling element to the proceedings. Unfortunately, I was less taken with the characters--Camilla is the centerpiece, but her constant moves from one person to the next made it difficult to connect with her motivations, while the men (outside of the Viceroy) seemed under-developed. Of course, maybe the artifice of the characters is the point.

86.00

Tentative rating as Renoir's films tend to be growers. Objection 1: Magnani is never truly believable as the object of desire of three men who are desperately vying for her hand simultaneously. It's not just her looks that are the issue but also her character: she doesn't posses enough magnetic qualities to justify the intense attraction. Objection 2: the English dialogue is awkwardly delivered by an international cast. The use of colour, blocking and movement, however, is first rate.

Garish, and the two centers of fascination, the coach and Camilla, aren't as compelling as they should be. The ending is completely lost on me, too.

#479

Not much to this, but Magnani and Renoir make the most of it.

There's 10 different elements here that should have captured my utmost attention (a Magnani lead most importantly), yet somehow, I was nearly bored to tears. Love the music, though.

487

Filmed at Renoir's typically leisurely pace, with exquisite costume design and Technicolor. It's too bad most of the characterizations are very thin. The main character is particularly irritating in her apparently fickle desires and shallow attitude, and she is played by Anna Magnani in stilted English. The one exception is the Viceroy, well-acted by Duncan Lamont.

533

A guilty pleasure. I just love everything about this film that makes it its own; which is almost everything.

# 533

A charming little bit about commedia dell'arte, mostly noteworthy for the excellent performance by Anna Magnani and the Vivaldi score. I hate Renoir's use of Technicolor, however, and here it has the same muddy, washed-out look as The River. I really don't understand how anyone could praise the color in this film, but perhaps I'm missing something.