Artist Lola Montes

Max Ophüls’ last film, Lola Montes begins with its title character performing in a circus, telling the audience about her supposedly sordid past. The film then dips into semi-fictional episodes of affairs the famous dancer engaged in across Europe and America, with such figures as composer Franz Liszt and the king of Bavaria. Ophüls’ only film shot in color, Lola Montes flopped upon its release and suffered from studio butchering, but was recently restored by a consortium of cineastes that included Ophüls’ son.

Updated 08/12/2009