That Most Important Thing: Love

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 (Romy Schneider), and Servais Mont, a photographer (Fabio Testi), in the violent and unforgiving French show business.

That Most Important Thing: Love
Directed byAndrzej Żuławski
Written by
Starring
Music byGeorges Delerue
Distributed by
  • S. N. Prodis (France)
  • Seaberg Film Distr. (US) dubbed
Release date
12 February 1975
Running time
  • 105 mins (cut version)
  • 113 mins (director's cut, NTSC)
  • 108 mins (director's cut, PAL)
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

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 received 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 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

U.S. release

It was originally released in the U.S. in the 1970s in a dubbed version titled That Most Important Thing: Love. The digitally restored French-language version made its cinematic debut in the U.S. in July 2017.[3]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 12 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 8.5/10.[4]

Reviewing the full French version in Film Comment, Ela Bittencourt called it one of Żuławski's best films and a "passionate portrait of the dignity—and the indignities—of an actor's work." She also praised the director's "fluid, roving camera... so attentive to every pang, twinge, or slightest hint of agony that it seems to expose the characters’ every nerve."[3] In a 4/4 star review from Chicago Reader, Ben Sachs said that "shining through L'Important C'Est D'Aimer is a genuine sense that love enables us to transcend the most degrading experiences."[5] The New York Times wrote: "the searing, sometimes confounding film [...] showcases the heartbreaking talents of Schneider."[6] Gene Moskowitz said in Variety: "Accepted in its own terms of an almost symbolical tale of human survival and love, it is an unusual pic served by first rate acting."[7]

References
  1. L'important c'est d'aimer at JP's Box-Office
  2. 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.
  3. "Review: L'Important c'est d'aimer". Film Comment. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  4. "That Most Important Thing: Love". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  5. Sachs, Ben (2017-09-21). "Love is the drug in Andrzej Żuławski's L'Important C'Est D'Aimer". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  6. Kenny, Glenn (2017-07-13). "Review: 'L'Important C'est d'Aimer,' and Its Complications". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
  7. Moskowitz, Gene (1975-02-12). "L'important c'est d'aimer". Variety.
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