Le Double amour
Jean Epstein, FR 1925Screenplay: Marie & Jean Epstein; Cinematography: Maurice Desfassiaux; Cast: Nathalie Lissenko, Jean Angelo, Camille Bardou, Pierre Batcheff, Nino Constantini, René Donnio, Alexis Ghasne, Pierre Hot, Madame de La Croix, Jules deSpoly. 35mm, bw, 104 min. French intertitles with English subtitles
A relatively classic melodrama, Le Double amour was Jean Epstein's third film for the Albatros production company, made between February and April of 1925. Like for L'Affiche (1924), Marie Epstein wrote the screenplay, which gave full expressive power to Nathalie Lissenko, star of Montreuil's Russian studio. She plays the part of the Countess Maresco, simultaneously a mother and a dejected woman, a wonderfully tragic aristocratic figure to whom Camille Bardou, Pierre Batcheff and Jean Angelo gravitate, each in harmony with her collapses and laments. Le Double amour is a film about a world of false appearances, gambling, baccarat and elegance. The dresses and suits were supplied by Drecoll and Paul Poiret. The photography is precise, and the lighting of the exteriors (almost all shot in Cannes) and the editing effects seem to foreshadow the filmmaker's future poetic works, like the recurring shot of waves breaking against the rocks, an image around which the story is structured. To quote Langlois: "Just screen a reel of Cœur fidèle (1923) and a reel of Le Double amour to see Epstein's progress." (E.C.)
Piano accompaniment by Elaine Brennan
Courtesy Cinémathèque française
Screening dates:
Di 21.10.2025 19:00
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No reservations accepted for screenings from October 17 to 28; special ticket regulations apply during the Viennale. Tickets are available exclusively at the Viennale box offices, via telephone at 01/526 594 769 or via www.viennale.at.