Elena and Her Men

A Jean Renoir vaudeville stars Ingrid Bergman as a Polish princess-cum-widow Elena Sokorowska in pre WWI Paris, merrily philandering with her suitors, until they are pinned down between two, the radical party general François Rollan (Marais) who is a candidate for the prime minister of the country and a romantic count Henri de Chevincourt (Ferrer).

My second Renoir's film after THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939, 8/10), ELENA AND HER MEN is on a splendid parade of polychromatism with exquisite costumes and interior decoration, whereas the movie is indulged in its own flamboyance and fecklessness, not even Juliette Gréco's superb rendition could ease the despondent frown.

Maybe it was Renoir's intention to make a film pandering for French audience and foreign Gallo- savants at its time, but the story is utterly uninvolving, all the rapid talking side characters pop up and romp around inordinately, which causes great trouble to comprehend what is going on on the screen, soon or later, all of them will inexplicably lapses into ridiculous buffoons, and more unsatisfying is that there is never enough room for viewers to savor the farce.

Bergman has a gregarious presence in this light-hearted rom-com, a skip-deep socialite can equally excel in conquering any man she wants and appeasing any man she deserts, with her charm daisy. Two besotted gentlemen, either the aristocratic and uptight Marias or the more characterless Ferrer, fail to make strong impact other than a convenient pawn to be blindly swept off his feet by Elena ever since the first glance.

Supporting roles galore, Jean Richard is Rollan's guard Hector, fights for the love of Lolotte (Noël), Elena's young maid, with Eugéne (Jouanneau), Elena's soon-to-be son-in-law, and truly, Elena is going to remarry with shoe businessman Mr. Martin-Michaud (Bertin), and their will be a double wedding with Eugéne marries his fiancée Denise (Nadal), things are all mismanaged under a political turbulence which one might find it difficult to decipher with its fast pace. Not to mention Rollan's quartet political corp, things could not be more messier.

Renoir certainly is still good at his trick with various characters bungle together within a carefully measured frame, but it doesn't change much for the haphazard love-triangle, in the end, one can only wish it could end as soon as possible, since our rationality determines that it doesn't worth all the effort.

Silly concoction is a minor work for all involved. Ingrid, in her last foreign film before her Rossolini fueled exile from Hollywood ended with her triumphant return in Anastastia, is charming and her dresses are incredibly beautiful. But the settings have a sense of falseness to them, even wealthy people's homes look like someone lives there, these are obvious sets. Even the outdoor scenes have a claustrophobic feeling of being stage-bound. Renoir doesn't seem comfortable with the material or perhaps he didn't believe in it, either way it's missing a light touch that would have turned the film into a charming soufflé instead of the flat farce that it is. Mildly amusing but almost completely forgettable.

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, on the July 14th Celebration in Paris, the broken widow Polish Princess Elena Sokorowska (Ingrid Bergman) meets the bon-vivant Henri de Chevincourt (Mel Ferrer) on the streets. Henri introduces his friend General François Rollan (Jean Marais), who is a national hero. Elena has sold all her pearls and needs to get married to keep her lifestyle. Elena involves with a group of politicians that intend to promote the general to the presidency of France supported by the people. Rollan and Henti fall in love for Elena and dispute her love.

"Elena et les Homes" is a dull romance in a political environment in France that is homage to love and the French way of life. Ingrid Bergman shines with her beauty performing a likable character. The bright colors highlight the art decoration, with colorful sets and costumes. This movie was released in Brazil on VHS by Mundial Filmes Distributor. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "As Estranhas Coisas de Paris" ("The Strange Things of Paris")

Jean Renoir will always be judged by his timeless pre-war French classics which means that his subsequent films invariably fall short. This is the third of his 'trilogy' from the 1950's. It is not quite as bad as 'La Carosse d'Or' but not nearly as good as 'French Cancan'.

Ravishingly shot by Claude Renoir, it begins promisingly with the blossoming romance between luminous Ingrid Bergman and elegant Mel Ferrer but the director has alas plumped for a strange concoction of romantic melodrama and slapstick farce and ultimately the film works as neither. Love conquers all at the end which is a relief because it means the film is finally over.

Apparently Rossellini advised his wife to work with Renoir and Bergman. Having made this dud with the former she had to wait twenty years to work with the latter which produced the masterpiece 'Autumn Sonata'.

Being both a fan of Renoir and Ingrid, imagine my surprise that they happened to collaborate on "Elena and Her Men!" Having yet to be disappointed by Renoir (Rules of the Game being one of the top five 20th century French films), I knew from the description that it wouldn't quite reach those heights but it should still be fun.

Having watched it through, I have to say that the comparisons made to Rules of the Game happen quite enough in Elena that would make the latter seem trite. Even so, and despite the annoying presence of Mel Ferrer (was he dubbed?) and the sub-plots with Eugene-Denise-Lisotte, I have to say that Ingrid Bergman more than makes up for it, with Renoir showing her in all her luminosity in the beautiful dresses (and she certainly out-acts everyone else). The film itself is a little muddled, the previously mentioned sub-plots and other elements like the gypsy woman not quite fitting together (and the ending seems quite cheesy for Renoir, at least for me). All in all watch it if you are a Bergman fan.