Cinéastes de notre temps: Max Ophuls ou Le plaisir de tourner

1965 TV documentary Max Ophüls ou La Ronde, depicts a portrait of the director and his films through interviews with his collaborators (cinematographer Christian Matras, camera operator Alain Douarinou, screenwriter Annette Wademant, plus producers and production assistants and many others) and stars (including Simone Simon, Danielle Darrieux, Peter Ustinov and Martine Carroll).
　　Director Michel Mitrani doesn’t merely bring in a tremendous wealth of first-hand remembrances from a great collection of acting legends and French film artists, he brings an ambition to the production to match it: he brings his subjects into a recreation in miniature of Ophuls’ circus set from Lola Montes, setting them against a lovely pageant of tumblers and acrobats and trained horses and, for one scene, dancers in evening dress turning the center ring into a ball. Numerous participants remark on Ophuls’ habit of pacing constantly while working and link his constant movement with his camerawork: “That’s the real reason for his traveling shots. He liked to see characters in motion so he could accompany them.” It doesn’t really explain his aesthetic sensibility but it’s a marvelous observation and one of many delightful anecdotes of the director. The video quality is primitive but it’s an archival treasure.