82
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt takes its audience on a dizzying swirl, like a waltz, or a champagne-induced headspin.
- 91The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe characters are sketchy by design, but the set design is wondrously opulent, and Ophüls cleverly picks up on Schnitzler's central theme, about how sexual desire erases class distinctions.
- 80The New York TimesWalter GoodmanThe New York TimesWalter GoodmanThe performers are as seductive as the script. It's quite an affaire.
- 80EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanThe intricate work of a craftsman, and a beautiful appearance by the beguiling Simone Sigornet.
- 80The Observer (UK)The Observer (UK)This elegant, imperishable romantic comedy is lighter in tone than the play and has a haunting score by Oscar Strauss (no kin to the waltz family).
- Max Ophuls’s witty version (1950) of Arthur Schnitzler’s play showing love as a bitterly comic merry-go-round.
- 75LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenLarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenOphuls’ technique is often on the nose, but it’s still exhilarating.
- 70Time OutTime OutNot one of the director's very greatest films on desire (see Letter from an Unknown Woman and Lola Montès for those), Ophüls' circular chain of love and seduction in 19th century Vienna is still irresistible.