Le carrosse d'or

Plot synopsis:
The Viceroy of a remote 18th century Peruvian town has purchased a magnificent golden coach from Europe. The Viceroy hints of his intention to give the coach to his mistress, the Marquise, but has decided to pay for it with public funds, since he plans to use it to overawe the populace and flatter the local nobility, who enthusiastically look forward to taking turns parading in it. By coincidence, the coach arrives on the same ship that carries an Italian commedia dell'arte troupe composed of men, women and children who perform as singers, actors, acrobats and comics. The troupe is led by Don Antonio, who also portrays the stock character of Pantalone on stage, and features Camilla, who plays the stock role of Columbina.
Once members of the troupe refurbish the town’s dilapidated theater, their performances meet with success only after local hero, Ramon, a Toreador, becomes smitten with Camilla and starts leading the applause. Similarly, after a command performance at the Viceroy’s palace, the gentry withhold their favor until the Viceroy signals his approval and asks to meet the women of the company. He, too, is taken with Camilla, who is the only person who makes him feel comfortable and light-hearted. He gives her a splendid necklace, which enrages her jealous swain, Felipe, who has been accompanying the troupe on their travels. Felipe attacks Camilla and causes a riotous backstage brawl, after which he runs off to join the army.
The Viceroy has become infatuated with Camilla and announces that he has decided to pay for the coach with his own money, in order to give it to her as a love gift. This outrages the Marquise along with the rest of the nobility, who are already smarting over the Viceroy’s demands for money to finance military defenses against an insurgency. Led by the Duc de Castro, they threaten to strip the Viceroy of his post, an action that can only succeed if endorsed by the country’s Bishop. When the Viceroy vacillates in the face of this intimidation, Camilla spurns him in disgust.
After watching a triumphant performance by Ramon in the bullring, Camilla impetuously gives him her necklace, which emboldens him to visit her lodging that night and propose that they become a celebrity couple in order to enhance their earning power as performers. There he encounters Felipe, who has returned from extended army service in order to reclaim Camilla and take her away with him to live a simple life among the natives. While the two men fight each other with swords, the Viceroy arrives to tell Camilla that he has defied the nobility and is giving her the coach, which she can claim from him immediately. Upon questioning, he admits to her that he expects the Bishop, who arrives on the morrow, to approve the nobles’ plan to depose him. Felipe and Ramon are arrested for dueling in public.
All is resolved the next morning when Camilla gives the coach to the Bishop as a gesture of piety. The Bishop announces his plan to use the coach to transport the sacraments to sick and dying peasants and calls for peace and reconciliation between all the disputing parties. As the curtain falls, Don Antonio reminds Camilla that, as an actress, she is only able to realize her true self when she is performing on the stage.

Tags: atmospheric

Review:
I once read a review in which the critic expressed the opinion that Anna Magnani's looks couldn't make it likely that the male characters of the plot fell in love with her.
But this is a complete misunderstanding of the story, it is not because of her beauty they love her, but because she makes them laugh, she brings them to that other world which theater creates.
"La Carozza D'Oro" is the only Italian film made by Jean Renoir.
As Renoir recognized later, his main collaborator in the making of the film was Antonio Vivaldi in a form of his music that director used to hear while writing the script which is based on a stage play by Prosper Merimee.
Anna Magnani gives a superb performance as a main star of the group - Camilla, whose main passion in life is theater.
She finds herself in the center of attention of the three man: a toreador Ramon (Riccardo Rioli), a Vice King Ferdinand (Duncan Lamont) and a young adventurous officer Felipe (Paul Campbell) facing the tough choice in making a decision: whom to choose?A funny theatrical comedy of life from great French director Jean Renoir, with superb acting and wonderful music from Antonio Vivaldi.
I didn't know if I would like it as much as Renoir's more famous films of the 30s, and I had previously found some of the color films he did in the 50s to be less accessible.
The color is sumptuous and breathtaking; I have always like Technicolor, in which this film is shot, for the richness of its palette.
It is the film of Anna Magnani.
because it represents not only charming reconstruction of Commedia dell' Arte but the chance to admire a precise way to build the seduction of a woman discovering herself.
it is a Jean Renoir film and his mark is obvious in each scene.
But I should had known better really, since this movie had Jean Renoir at the helm, a man who really knew how to always tell a story, in the combination with some impressing visuals.I liked the movie definitely better than expected and I enjoyed it from basically start till finish.
It has some great sets and costumes in it, that help to give the movie a certain atmosphere, consistent with the time period it got set in.
It doesn't ever feel though as if the movie got set in a small town of Central America, that is a Spanish colony.
Jean Renoir's colorful English language comedy is not the masterpiece prevailing critical opinion would have you believe ("riotously textural!" raved the Village Voice), but it is a pleasant and entertaining novelty.
A spirited Anna Magnani leads a troupe of Italian actors to a Spanish colony in 18th century Peru, where the appreciative Viceroy rewards her talent (and beauty) with the gift of a golden coach, setting off a small political and romantic scandal.
It plays for the most part not unlike a literate stage farce, and Renoir emphasizes the theatricality of the story by directing (and shooting) it like theatre, with deliberate, flat compositions and distracting color costumes; the action even begins on a legitimate stage, the walls of which 'disappear' as soon as Renoir's camera dollies into it.
The (at the time) newly struck 1992 print, presented by Martin Scorsese, shows obvious evidence of restoration only in the curious epilogue, which brings the story back to its original stage setting, and appears to have been poorly reconstructed on video..
An Italian Commedia dell'arte troupe ends up in Peru to entertain the court of Lima with intrigues and consequences...
This is Jean Renoir at his most gorgeous and playful, although he was already getting old when this was made as an enthusiastic tribute to "Commedia dell'arte" staging Anna Magnani as the ultimate primadonna and diva, who in spite of her over-maturity attracts even a king to court her simply by her stardom as an overwhelming actress.
The story is silly, of course, and not at all credible and gets steadily more ridiculous all the time, some scenes are actually quite trying for their tedious imbecility, but all comedies are like that - they are never serious, and in comedy everything is allowed, especially silliness.
The outstanding merit of the film is how it brings the Commedia dell'arte alive and seemingly more alive than ever - the first theatre scenes are like fireworks in their ebullient sprightliness and a joy both to the eye and the intellect for being so rich in their apparent improvisations with new whims all the time, but it's actually nothing but mastery of expert direction, and jean Renoir knew all about that.
Treat it for what it is, a hilarious comedy out of this world, and forbear with the impossible intrigue and hopeless failures of turn-outs that try your patience - Anna Magnani compensates fully for them all with her delightful troupe, where the children are an additional wonder to a gloriously preposterous performance..
The film was intended to look like a play within a movie and unfortunately, this was part of the problem--it lacked realism and seemed stagy.
I usually don't comment on the unattractiveness of a star, as this seems really shallow, but when the woman is so incorrectly portrayed as possessing intense sexual magnetism, it does affect the viewing experience.I would also like to add that the music was great.
A small and poor Italian Commedia dell'Arte troupe has gone to colonial South America.
Its leading lady Anna Magnani (Camilla) has three admirers: poor Spanish nobleman Odoardo Spadaro (Don Antonio), the Colonial Viceroy Duncan Lamont (Ferdinand), and the leading toreador Riccardo Rioli (Ramon), who struggle for her attention.Very theatrical and obviously shot in a studio.
Includes nice reconstructions of Commedia dell'Arte performances (though probably much better in the film than in reality).
Renoir introduces Carosse as a "fantasy" in the "spanish style" and it was at this time in his life where he was ready to dedicate himself to theater.
A montage of shots connected through dissolves as well as the static camera solidify a sense of tableau fitting appropriately with the specularity of the commedia dell'arte theme.
Renoir would take a new look at this at the end of Cancan when Gabin rehearses the performance in his mind from backstage.
The Golden Coach is very much a film these for Renoir as he plays out the most important elements of his personal philosophy - that of internal and external truths and the masks that people wear to manage their relationship and mode of expression.
It was shot principally in English, which meant an extra layer of strain for La Magnani, whose manic, over-the-top performance can't quite hide the somewhat anaemic storyline.Luckily, her overacting fits well enough with the character's context and the decidedly light and bawdy mood of the whole piece: she's a professional Commedia del Arte 'actor' touring a 16th Century Latin America which decadent Spaniards hold in their venal grip.
The great Italian star drags behind her a motley crew of fellow-Italians who match her quiver for quiver in the wild hand-gesturing repertoire and performs convincingly the stage stunts that were the Commedia's stock in trade.
Was Renoir asleep when this guy auditioned?Anyway, none of that matters, because this is a film that is as much art-directed as it is directed.
There is no doubting Renoir's genuine desire to pay tribute to the Commedia genre, and his loving attention to the detail of early theatrical craft draws you in.
After all, wasn't this popular form of street theatre an early precursor to the great art perfected later on the big screen by the likes of Lubitsch or Renoir himself?In the end, I feel an indulgent love for this film, a late entry into the great French master's career and -like French Cancan - a little bit 'so what?'.
Not only could I get drowned again and again in its sensuous celebration of Technicolor as life and drama, but there is also a core quality that has to do with how Renoir renders the spiritual essence of the Commedia company: throughout the film, these displaced paupers and underfed globe-trotters display total servitude and total freedom in equal measure.
As a filmmaker who frequently struggled to achieve his vision against the strictures of the commercial film industry, Renoir seems to know intimately what those characters' lives were about..
To this reviewer's reckoning, one has to inure the fact that French auteur Jean Renoir's latter track record smacks of resting on his tremendous laurels, THE GOLDEN COACH, the first of his post-Hollywood musical comedies trilogy, will be followed by FRENCH CANCAN (1955) and ELENA AND HER MEN (1956), headlines Anna Magnani as the pillar of an Italian Commedia dell'arte troupe, setting its foot in a 18th century colonial Peru.Ms. Magnani is Camilla, whose romantic embroilment with 3 different male suitors: Ferdinand (Lamont), the Spanish viceroy, Ramon (Rioli), an indigenous toreador and her longtime Italian beau Felipe (Campbell), will be immediately thrown into a whirlpool of romp and pomp, with the titular golden coach as a token of love from the noble viceroy, which can be put into practical use to save his pending deposition if Camilla feels up to do it.First things first, amped up by Vivaldi's repertoire, gingered up by Magnani and her troupe shrouded in sheer Technicolor splendor and variegated costumes, not to mention the deadpan aristocratic panoply and comic skits impromptu, THE GOLDEN COACH is so eye-pleasing and ear-soothing that, for one second, one might assume it is a masterpiece in the making, to certain extent, that expectation is partially validated by Renoir's effortless facility to beautifully refine the stodgy with freewheeling ease and the Midas touch, a compassionate, pyrotechnic Magnani, who defies any moral obligation and jaundiced ageism to attest that for a woman in the mellow years, her Camilla is second to none in commanding her own life path and expressing her own feelings, and she has many options at hand: retreating to a simpler, quieter life with Felipe, becoming a celebrity couple among locals with Ramon, aiding with Fedinand in his silk-stocking intrigues, or just resuming her stock role of Columbina with the troupe, it is her call and hers only.A Cinecittà production bursts into its full-blown lavishness of its visual complexion and texture, THE GOLDEN COACH is a vintage farce hampered by its folly-driven staginess and erstwhile flippancy, unwieldy in its glittering sheen but still a very different kettle of fish from any other vanity projects, for one thing, Renoir is quite au fait with men's sophomoric foibles and a believer in a woman's elemental beneficence..
Jean Renoir, the masterful creator of such films as Les Regles du Jeu and La Grande Illusion tries his hand at a period piece, set in Spanish ruled Latin America, filmed in English with American and Italian actors.
The memorable performance of the film was by its star Anna Magnani as Camilla, an Italian actress who has come to perform with her troupe and is courted by 3 men, a captain in the army, a sports hero matador and the viceroy.
The ending ties together the message of the film as we see Camilla make her choice.
The film in interesting and compelling if not powerful.This movie is like this interesting meat pastry that I ate at Sabor Latino in Ann Arbor.
For the first 102 minutes, I saw this film much as MATTHEWSCOTT8: a pleasant movie that was charming and colorful, but otherwise ordinary.
Most pursue some narrow selfish objective, but on rare occasions one overcomes their greed and achieves a degree of liberation and fulfillment (in this case Camilla).The second play is the stage on which the our narrator stands; a kind of Bardo between the fist play and our audience.
The audience is a sea of human souls - all those who have passed away as their personal play has ended.The narrator tells us that Camilla is missing.
I seemed to remember a more elegant ending, when Anna Magnani steps back on stage.
I take this as a metaphor for the play of creation as described in the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 2, when Krishna says to Arjuna, "Be without the three gunas." So Camilla has come to understand this, has given up her attachment to material things, symbolized by the coach, and even to the whole rigmarole of worldly life, and goes back to her true essence, which is to be the witness to all this churning activity.
The only other film I had seen by Jean Renoir was Rules of the Game.
To say I'm not a fan of Commedia dell'Arte would be an understatement, so some of the theatrical scenes at the beginning of the film began to seem interminable.But yay.
It had seized me and there would be no release.I think it is because while watching Renoir's work, you know indisputably that you are in the presence of genius.
How he creates this momentum to move the story forward in such a way as to have the excitement of the most intense action film.Speaking of action, there is a sword fight in this film that is wonderful.And tons of humor.And it's loaded with so much heart.Anna Magnani was great.As great as Magnani was, even greater, IMO, was Duncan Lamont who played the Viceroy.
Sumptuous costume drama and unique historical setting not enough to offset silly machinations of jealous suitors.
After all, it's directed by the great Jean Renoir, the setting is unique (a Spanish colony in Peru in the 18th century), the plot is unusual (a commedia dell'arte troupe must prove its mettle in a potentially hostile environment) and the protagonist played by Anna Magnani, lends her star power to the proceedings.I like how the character of Ferdinand the Viceroy (in perhaps Duncan Lamont's greatest role) is not your typical autocrat who is bent on making everyone's lives, miserable.
Quite the contrary, the Viceroy is beholden to the aristocracy who eventually decide to vote him out after he chooses to give the Golden Coach to Camilla (Magnani), who he has fallen in love with.
I also like the witty banter between Lamont and Magnani, as he tries to seduce the headstrong Camilla.As the plot develops, the Viceroy isn't the only fellow who has fallen in love with Camilla.
He ends up fighting with Felipe after his return for a visit and we're again expected to laugh simply because of both their jealous infatuations.Magnani knew no English when she was hired for the role and it's remarkable how fast she learned the language.
I guess it's her personality that sways them but in real life, can you imagine all three men going after such a brash (and not that physically attractive) type of woman?'The Golden Coach' denouement reminds me of the similar denouement in Moliere's 'Tartuffe'.
You'll recall that it's the King who makes everything right at the end; similarly here it's the Bishop, who accepts Camilla's gift of the coach and plans on using it to transport sacraments to the sick and dying.
Ultimately, 'The Golden Coach' is a sumptuous costume drama with a unique, historical setting.
If you like the commedia dell'arte, you'll certainly be rewarded (in terms of drama, it seems awfully dated to me).I understand that Renoir himself was more proud of the stage design than the narrative.
There's also a little of Renoir's philosophizing at the end where we're reminded that Camilla really can only realize her true self when she's performing on the stage.
It was very interesting to read that French director Jean Renoir (Boudo Saved from Drowning, La Grande Illusion, La Règle Du Jeu (The Rules of the Game)) made this film in the English language, he planned to make a French version but had no money to do it, so this the original that all the critics praise.
Basically set in 18th Century, in a small Central American town in Peru, a travelling Commedia dell'Arte theatre company arrives to entertain the people and the high society aristocracy.
The chief aristocrat of the town is the Viceroy (Duncan Lamont), who has recently bought a fabulous golden coach from Europe to give to his mistress.
But this plan changes when he gets to to know the leading lady and actress of the troupe, Camilla (Anna Magnani), he falls in love with her and gives the coach to her instead, and she starts to become accustomed to the high life.
In the end Camilla solves the situation by donating the coach the Bishop of Lima, and she returns to the theatre troupe and there is a big celebration for their preponderance.
It was handy that I did not have to read any subtitles through the film, the cast were all fine, especially Magnani who was radiant as the performer turned unlikely high class socialite of sorts, the story was just about simple enough that I could pay attention to the right parts, the costumes and use of colour is lavish, it feels like a play on stage, I'm sure that was the point, a likable period drama.
"The Golden Coach" was an interesting project for Jean Renoir.
According to his own biography, this film interested him on more of a design level, than on a story-telling level.
And from a technical point of view, the film is a feast for the eyes, and therefore a success.The cast, especially Anna Magnani as Camilla, is excellent.
They play the characters in a commedia dell'arte style production.
I'm not sure what Renoir intended, but I thought that the story, while contrived, was interesting.7 out of 10.
It was a nice idea to try to replicate the Commedia del Arte and lots of the set-ups are easy on the eye but overall, what's it all about, Alfie..
I saw 'The Golden Coach' twenty years ago in a big screen revival.
So I thought I'd watch it again, now that I have hundreds of really great films under my belt ...and I see why nothing stuck in my head.