Jean Renoir – Elena et les hommes AKA Elena and Her Men (1956)
Quote:
The beautiful Princess Elena Sokorowska (Ingrid Bergman, Intermezzo, A Woman’s Face) has decided to marry a rich but much older than her man (Pierre Bertin, Les tontons flingueurs) because she can no longer support her lifestyle. But on Bastille Day she meets the young and handsome aristocrat Henri de Chevincourt (Mel Ferrer, Lili, The Black Corsair), who introduces her to his good friend General François Rollan (Jean Marais, Orpheus, Le Masque de fer). The General is so impressed by her beauty that immediately asks if they could meet again. Later on, Elena and Henri end up in a bistro where they drink red wine and kiss. When a group of loud patriots enters the bistro, Elena disappears into the night.
On the following day Henri goes looking for Elena, but is told that she has already left with her future husband.
Meanwhile, while experimenting with a new balloon Captain Vidauban and his assistant land in a not so friendly German village where they are promptly arrested. The news quickly reaches Paris and angry men and women go on the streets demanding that the government does whatever is necessary to free Vidauban. At the same time, a group of anti-government conspirators decide to approach General Rollan because he is the only man in the country that could get the job done.
But the last thing on General Rollan’s mind is politics. Since his introduction to Elena he has been thinking about her day and night, hoping that they would meet again, and perhaps even start a relationship.
Eventually, one of the conspirators comes with a plan that could potentially get General Rollan interested in politics, and even topple the government. For the plan to work, Henry must approach and convince Elena to see General Rollan, and then the Polish beauty must use her charm to convince General Rollan to take power and save the country’s honor.
The story does not flow as well as that of Jean Renoir’s French Cancan, but the visuals more than make up for the occasional missteps. There are sequences where it literally feels like the camera can’t get enough of the stunningly beautiful Elena (this isn’t surprising as Renoir once admitted while being interviewed by Jacques Rivette that he made the film because of Bergman).
The film does have a serious side (there are some interesting political overtones), but overall it is lighthearted and quite humorous. The main characters are involved in an entertaining game that constantly evolves, surprising even the most seasoned players. From start to finish Cupid is also hovering around, shooting arrows left and right.
The cinematography is fantastic. The footage from Bastille Day, in particular, rivals the lush visuals from French Cancan. The chaos that ensues after General François Rollan is arrested is also very effectively filmed.
Gaumont’s Blu-ray release of Elena and Her Men features the French-language version of the film. Renoir also filmed a slightly shorter English-language version which was the version of the film that was initially shown in the United States. The English version was named Paris Does Strange Things.
Elena et les hommes.1956.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv
General
Container: Matroska
Runtime: 1h 38mn
Size: 1.94 GiB
DXVA: Compatible
Minimum settings: Not met
Video
Codec: x264
Resolution: 768x576
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Frame rate: 24.000 fps
Bit rate: 2 500 kb/s
Audio
French 2.0ch AC-3 @ 224 kb/s
https://nitro.download/view/D4EFEB5C372043D/Elena_et_les_hommes.1956.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv
Language(s):French
Subtitles:English, French, Russian
