Bel Ami – Der Frauenheld von Paris

The masculine charm offensive of Forst's pre-war film version of the Maupassant classic is replaced by a class warrior gesture: here, too, a man returns to Paris after years abroad and, thanks to his career-conscious demeanour, climbs the social ladder - only to become a pawn in the hands of the powerful. The contemporary references are unmistakable. A French version is also being produced in parallel.
(Florian Widegger)

Sun 8 June: With an introduction by Stefan Mario Schmidl