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Elena et les hommes (Elena and Her Men) (Paris Does Strange Things) (1956)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 1

audience

47

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 395

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Movie Info

In the 1950s, French films were considered the ne plus ultra in naughtiness by certain impressionable filmgoers. It was to these movie fans that the American distributor of Jean Renoir's Elena et les Hommes (Elena and the Men) catered when it provocatively retitled the picture Paris Does Strange Things As further grist to the mill for American publicity hacks, the film starred Ingrid Bergman, who had recently returned to Hollywood after her career was nearly ruined by a marital scandal. Actually

Unrated, 1 hr. 26 min.

Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

Jean Renoir

Cast

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (3) | DVD (4)

The fact that Jean Renoir was its director is the ultimate oddity. How this fiasco could have happened is difficult to explain.

March 25, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What's interesting is the way that Renoir preserves a strong erotic and romantic thread (the love between Bergman and Ferrer) all the way through the movie's farcical elements.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film is ravishing to look at (with Ingrid Bergman radiant at its center), and its mid-80s 35-millimeter restoration is a sumptuous treat indeed.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This is a fantastic film. It is filled with patented Renoirisms, from the utter sincerity of the emotions to the exceptional impressionistic composition.

August 30, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Fantasy, yes, but hardly escapist in the astonishing pertinence with which it reduces the hawkish military and political ambitions of the day to derisory farce while demonstrating the infallibility with which love goes on making the world go round.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

...there's something to be said for Renoir's universe in which governments can turn on the question of who gets to bed Ingrid Bergman.

April 7, 2006 Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | Comment
DVDJournal.com

Bergman's signature elegance remains the only enduring element of Renoir's light-hearted confection.

October 21, 2004 Full Review Source: AV Club | Comment
AV Club

the resemblance it bears to Renoir's great Rules of the Game is more than passing, and I think this detracts

August 24, 2004 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

Even if ultimately this is not one of Renoir's best efforts, assured direction and a biting script show some of the old magic.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Elena et les hommes (Elena and Her Men) (Paris Does Strange Things)

Silly concoction is a minor work for all involved. Ingrid, in her last foreign film before her exile from Hollywood due to the Rossolini scandal ended and triumphant return in Anastastia, is charming and her dresses are incredibly beautiful. But the settings have a sense of falseness to them, even wealthy people's

April 29, 2011
jjnxn
jay nixon

Super Reviewer

A Full 5 Stars, I seldom do that. This is Movie from the Criterion Collection, like most movies from this collection its outstanding. Its in French with English Subtitles. Its easy to see that Ingrid Bergman was both beautiful and talented. We really don't see that in Female actors today, They are hot for a while but

December 14, 2007
bbcfloridabound
Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

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