Breathtakingly beautiful photography & music
10/10
Author: Don W from Long Island Motor Parkway
29 January 2000

Breathtakingly beautiful photography & music help to make this movie the finest love story I've seen. It's based on a true story that took place in 1859, although the movie is set at a somewhat later date. It's hard to imagine that these two young people, so full of life & love for each other, would choose the option they did to resolve their problems, but part of what this movie shows us is the inability of these two "upper class" individuals (Lt. Sparre is a Count, an aristocrat, & Elvira is a world famous circus performer who is mentioned in newspaper articles & a book) to cope with life once it has beeen altered beyond what they have been accustomed to deal with. If you choose not to read the subtitles,(ce qui serait très CON !) you'll still enjoy the movie for its visual beauty & the terrific music by Mozart & Vivaldi. Ironically,(?) the drawing Elvira pawns for pennies is by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec!!