This is the story of an opera star ,La Malibran.So it can be considered Guitry's foray into musicals .Maria Malibran's story (1808-1836) is told by her best friend ,countess Merlin (Suzy Prim).The worst thing she did in her short career was to marry Malibran (Sacha Guitry),a man who asked her to give up singing,then ,when he was short of the readies,to resume her career because "you do not have to be ashamed of the money you make when you are an artist".
Like in many movies,Guitry introduces great names in history:Lamartine ,Hugo,Rossini and even La Fayette ,a French Revolution survivor.Could be described as the rise and fall of a diva circa 1820.It's only in the last scenes that we feel Guitry's touch:death obsession is present in almost all his best movies;Like in his other biopic "Deburau" ,Guitry depicts the end of a legend : the mime could hand on the torch to his son;La Malibran ,who is dying ,hear a young singer :she makes her come and give her some advice.
Best scene: La Malibran,who knows she performs on stage for the last time ,begins to sing her own composition "death" .
"La Malibran" cannot be looked upon as one of Guitry's finest achievements but his fans won't waste their time if they give it a chance.
