Monpti (1957)

Comedy, Drama, Romance

96 min    -    Rating: 6.5

Romy Schneider, Horst Buchholz, Mara Lane…

A romantic and funny love story with a tragic end. In Paris a young Hungarian artist (Monpti) and a girl (Anne-Claire) meet and fall in love. But just when she is prepared to give herself to him she finds a pair of lady's pants in his room. He is perfectly innocent but the reason why the pants are there is as humouristic as incredible. So when he tells the truth she gets very angry though she was prepared to "forgive" his "side step". Another pattern is much more serious. Anne-Claire fears that Monpti would have no interest in her if she told that she is a nobody. So she builds up a story of being a rich girl with a private chauffeur. She even takes Monpti to a family church funeral and points out all her relatives, even telling which ones are not on speaking terms. When he finally exposes her lies a violent explosion results. She runs away in despair and is overrun by a car. At the hospital their love returns. But she will die after a few days. - In the background of many scenes we have seen the couple who overrun Anne-Claire, and their shallow emotions were recurrently contrasted with the genuine love of the young couple.