Malvern French Film Centre

02 Die Marquise Von O

3pm Saturday 5th April 2025

Die marquise von o 1976 1h 42mins

 

An unusual film among Rohmer’s oeuvre, this is an example of one of his historical films. Based on a short story by Kleist, it is set during the Napoleonic wars (and provides a rare opportunity to see the notoriously shy Rohmer on the screen – he plays a Russian solider and can be briefly glimpsed). The film is remarkable for its painterly compositions and its masterful cinematic transcription of Kleist’s disturbing story of an unspeakable crime.

Made a year after Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon,” and five years after Truffaut’s “Two English Girls”, this period drama as a genre had never felt so contemporary. Rohmer, like Kubrick and Truffaut, imbues “Marquise” with a modernity of emotion and consequence and his women display a beauty and intelligence that can transcend the ages but are still obfuscated by the many faults of men. Here he depicts a chaste widow who becomes pregnant, and is exiled from her own home.

Winner:

1976 Cannes Grand Jury Prize
1977 BAFTA winner – Best Costume Design

book tickets for die marquise von o

Tickets cost £7. If you are booking for three or more films we offer a discounted price of £6/film. This offer cannot be processed online, please call Malvern Theatres box office on 01684 892277. It helps our funds if you book ahead then pay cash on the door.