Moving Pictures: The European Films of Max Ophüls

Fin-de-siècle Paris is the setting of this sumptuous story that follows a pair of diamond earrings as they are passed between lovers and middlemen before ending up in their original owner’s possession. Lauded for its stellar performances, dazzling mise-en-scène and virtuoso long-take cinematography, this film may be, according to Andrew Sarris, “the greatest film of all time.” In French with English subtitles. (France/Italy, 1953, 35mm, b/w, 105 min.)