That Most Important Thing: Love
| That Most Important Thing: Love | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Andrzej Żuławski |
| Written by |
Christopher Frank Andrzej Żuławski |
| Starring |
Romy Schneider Jacques Dutronc Fabio Testi Klaus Kinski |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
| Distributed by |
S. N. Prodis (France) Seaberg Film Distr. (US) dubbed |
Release dates | February 12, 1975 |
Running time |
105 mins (cut version) 113 mins (director's cut, NTSC) 108 mins (director's cut, PAL) |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
That Most Important Thing: Love (original French title: L'important c'est d'aimer) is a French film directed by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski. It tells the story of a passionate love relationship between Nadine Chevalier, a B-List actress (Schneider) and Servais Mont, a photographer (Testi) in the violent and unforgiving French show biz.
In 1975, Żuławski coadapted and directed this movie, based on the novel by Christopher Frank La Nuit américaine (unrelated to the 1973 François 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 Żuławski to come back to Poland. The film had a total of 1,544,986 admissions in France.[1]
Romy Schneider obtained the inaugural César Award for Best Actress for this role and Pedro Almodóvar dedicated his film All About My Mother partially to her in this role.[2]
Plot
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 the 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
- Romy Schneider as Nadine Chevalier
- Fabio Testi as Servais Mont
- Jacques Dutronc as Jacques Chevalier
- Claude Dauphin as Mazelli
- Roger Blin as Servais's father
- Gabrielle Doulcet as Madame Mazelli
- Michel Robin as Raymond Lapade
- Guy Mairesse as Laurent Messala
- Jacques Boudet as Robert Beninge
- Katia Tchenko as Myriam, the whore
- Nicoletta Machiavelli as Luce, Lapade's wife
- Klaus Kinski as Karl-Heinz Zimmer
- Paul Bisciglia as Assistant director
References
- ↑ L'important c'est d'aimer at JP's Box-Office
- ↑ Comments by Pedro Almodóvar on All About My Mother; the other dedicatees were Gena Rowlands in Opening Night and Bette Davis in All About Eve.