--- title: "The Earrings of Madame de...: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-earrings-of-madame-de/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-earrings-of-madame-de" critics_score: 73 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Earrings of Madame de... (1953): what the critics said Critics' score 73 from 9 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics respond warmly to The Earrings of Madame de…, with praise clustering around Ophüls’s fluid camerawork and his treatment of love under social constraint. The expressive tracking shots and choreographed ballroom sequence draw particular admiration, while several reviews find that the elegant surfaces allow a searching examination of gender and romantic conventions. Performances also attract praise, especially the expressive glances of Darrieux and De Sica, alongside the film’s handling of passion and circumstance. The spread is wide, however, with two firmly negative assessments challenging the emotional substance that its admirers find. Variety praises the careful framing and restrained acting but considers the attitudes dated and the characters lifeless. Eye for Film likewise acknowledges the visual beauty, yet finds the drama superficial and unconvincing, with the earrings’ repeated returns becoming an irritatingly predictable device. The central disagreement is whether the elegance deepens the characters’ feelings or leaves them insufficiently explored. ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 14 February 2013. Bradshaw calls the film a great, praising its elegant, gripping storytelling and erotic mystery. He especially singles out its fluid camerawork and superb trio of performances. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/14/madame-de-review) ## IndieWire — Matt Brennan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 2013. Brennan offers a strongly positive appraisal, calling the film a masterpiece whose insights remain striking. He singles out Ophuls’ graceful, fluid visual style and the way it uses surface elegance to examine gender and romantic conventions. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/ophuls-the-earrings-of-madame-de-on-blu-ray-from-criterion-before-the-new-wave-a-new-woman-video-196663/) ## The New York Times — Dave Kehr Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 March 2007. Kehr’s review is strongly positive about Ophüls’s film. It singles out the director’s elegant, fluid visual style for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/movies/11kehr.html) ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 4/5. 12 February 2013. Huddleston gives the film a positive four-star assessment. He singles out its distinctive structure, which shifts from sunny aristocratic comedy toward darker drama. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/madame-de) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Rating 3.5/5. 4 August 2013. Bowen finds the film’s view of love and social convention unusually nuanced, while judging the Criterion release not quite stellar. He praises the vibrant mono soundtrack and Ophüls’s expressive tracking shots, but criticizes the transfer’s lack of detail and overly scrubbed skin textures. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-earrings-of-madame-de-bd/) ## The AV Club — Noel Murray Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 October 2008. Murray presents the film positively as the culmination of themes developed in Ophüls’ earlier work. He singles out its style, tone, and music for capturing characters who feel independent but are swept along by passion and circumstance. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/la-ronde-le-plaisir-the-earrings-of-madame-de-1798205030) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1952. The review finds the film delicately made but weighed down by dated attitudes and lifeless characters. It praises Ophüls’s careful photographic framing and the cast’s restrained performances. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1952/film/reviews/madame-de-1200417461/) ## Paste — Andy Beta Rating 84/100. 10 October 2008. The critic calls it the collection’s most emotionally resonant film. They single out its choreographed ballroom sequence and the expressive glances of Darrieux and De Sica. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/max-ophuls/la-ronde-le-plaisir-and-earrings-of-madame-de) ## Eye for Film — Nicola Osborne Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The critic finds the film beautiful but ultimately unconvincing and superficial. She singles out the earrings’ increasingly predictable returns as an infuriating plot device. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-earrings-of-madame-de-film-review-by-nicola-osborne) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-earrings-of-madame-de.md