Lady of the Camelias [La Dame aux Camélias] [La storia vera della signora dalle camelie] *** (1981, Isabelle Huppert, Gian Maria Volontè, Bruno Ganz) – Classic Movie Review 8,821

The 1981 French-Italian romantic drama film Lady of the Camelias stars Isabelle Huppert and tells the actual story of Alphonsine Plessis, who became a famous courtesan in Paris and inspired the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas Fils.

Director Mauro Bolognini’s Italian, French and German 1981 co-production Lady of the Camelias [La Dame aux Camélias] [La storia vera della signora dalle camelie] stars the formidable European art movie trio of Isabelle Huppert (in the title role), Gian Maria Volontè (as Plessis) and Bruno Ganz (as Count Perregaux).

Fading away impressively as the consumptive courtesan Marguerite Gauthier, but now called Alphonsine Plessis, Huppert brings exactly the right tragic dimension to this plush, stirring and lovingly conscientious Eighties ‘real story’ version of the famous Alexandre Dumas Fils tale set in Paris in the 1840s.

Alexandre Dumas Fils (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) appears in the story as the young writer, the son of the illustrious writer Alexandre Dumas Père (Mario Maranzana), who is hypnotised by Alphonsine’s fame and charm. He persuades her to stay with him in the healthy countryside, but she returns to her Paris life and dies of tuberculosis in 1847, aged just 23. Alexandre Dumas Fils turns her story into a hugely successful novel and play.

Also in the cast are Fabrizio Bentivoglio as Alexandre Dumas Fils, Clio Goldsmith as Clémence, Mario Maranzana as Alexandre Dumas Père, Yann Babilée, Carla Fracci, Cécile Vassort, David Jajil, Piero Vida and Fabio Traversa.

Lady of the Camelias [La storia vera della signora dalle camelie] [La Dame aux Camélias] is directed by Mauro Bolognini, runs 115 minutes, is made by Gaumont, Les Films du Losange, France 3 (FR 3), Opera Film Produzione and Tele-München, is released by Gaumont (1981) (France), is written by Jean Aurenche, Vladimir Pozner and Enrico Medioli, is shot in Technicolor by Ennio Guarnieri, is produced by Manolo Bolognini and Margaret Ménégoz, is scored by Ennio Morricone and is designed by Mario Garbuglia, with Costume Design by Piero Tosi.

Release date: 11 March 1981.

Piero Tosi, nominated for five Oscars.

Piero Tosi, the famed costume designer who also worked on The Leopard, Death in Venice, The Night Porter, L’Innocente and La Cage aux Folles, died on 10 August 2019 in Rome, aged 92. He was nominated for five Oscars.

The cast

The cast are Isabelle Huppert as Alphonsine Plessis, Gian Maria Volonté as Plessis, Bruno Ganz as Count Perregaux, Fabrizio Bentivoglio as Dumas son, Clio Goldsmith as Clemence, Mario Maranzana as Dumas father, Yann Babilée as Agenor, Carla Fracci as Marguerite Gauthier, Cécile Vassort as Henriette, David Jalil as Maxence, Piero Vida, Fabio Traversa as Priest, Remo Remotti, Mattia Sbragia, Clara Colosimo, Gina Rovere, Stefania Pierangelini as Thérèse, Fernando Rey as Count Stackelberg.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,821

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