1975 French film
That Most Important Thing: Love
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Directed by
| Andrzej ?uławski
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Written by
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Starring
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Music by
| Georges Delerue
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Distributed by
| - S. N. Prodis (France)
- Seaberg Film Distr. (US) dubbed
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Release date
|
- 12 February 1975
(
1975-02-12
)
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Running time
| - 105 mins (cut version)
- 113 mins (
director's cut
, NTSC)
- 108 mins (director's cut, PAL)
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Country
| France
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Language
| French
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That Most Important Thing: Love
(original French title:
L'important c'est d'aimer
) is a French film directed by Polish filmmaker
Andrzej ?uławski
. It tells the story of a passionate love relationship between Nadine Chevalier, a B-List actress (
Romy Schneider
), and Servais Mont, a photographer (
Fabio Testi
), in the violent and unforgiving French show business.
In 1975, ?uławski coadapted and directed this movie, based on the novel by
Christopher Frank
La Nuit americaine
[
fr
]
(unrelated to the 1973
Francois Truffaut
film
of that name
). The success in France was such ? it was featuring the very popular actress
Romy Schneider
and French singer
Jacques Dutronc
? that it allowed ?uławski to come back to Poland. The film had a total of 1,544,986 admissions in France.
[1]
Romy Schneider received the
inaugural
Cesar Award for Best Actress
for this role and
Pedro Almodovar
dedicated his film
All About My Mother
partially to her in this role.
[2]
Plot
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]
Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from loan sharks to finance the theatrical production of
Richard III
and gives Nadine a part. Nadine is torn between Servais, with whom she is falling in love, and her husband Jacques, to whom she has moral obligations.
Cast
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]
U.S. release
[
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]
It was originally released in the U.S. in the 1970s in a dubbed version titled
That Most Important Thing: Love
. The digitally restored French-language version made its cinematic debut in the U.S. in July 2017.
[3]
Reception
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]
On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
, 92% of 12 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 8.5/10.
[4]
Reviewing the full French version in
Film Comment
, Ela Bittencourt called it one of ?uławski's best films and a "passionate portrait of the dignity?and the indignities?of an actor's work." She also praised the director's "fluid, roving camera... so attentive to every pang, twinge, or slightest hint of agony that it seems to expose the characters’ every nerve."
[3]
In a 4/4 star review from
Chicago Reader
, Ben Sachs said that "shining through
L'Important C'Est D'Aimer
is a genuine sense that love enables us to transcend the most degrading experiences."
[5]
The New York Times
wrote: "the searing, sometimes confounding film [...] showcases the heartbreaking talents of Schneider."
[6]
Gene Moskowitz said in
Variety
: "Accepted in its own terms of an almost symbolical tale of human survival and love, it is an unusual pic served by first rate acting."
[7]
References
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]
External links
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]