Particularly accurate in its settings and sufficiently attentive to the love torments of the two young protagonists, The Life and Loves of Mozart is distinguished by a direction that, however, would have needed more closeness to the characters themselves, in order to better render their internal conflicts derived from the difficult choices they have to make. In competition at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s The Last Ten Days is the chronicle of the end of an era that would nevertheless have many consequences, even after many years. Sporadic ironic moments serve to soften the dramatic nature of the events. Particular care and elegance in the mise-en-scene make the film extraordinarily full of pathos.
Spring on Ice, alongside a rather simple and linear screenplay, sees a mise-en-scène that is predominantly theatrical, but also extremely spectacular, colourful and lively, within which elegant figures move in front of the camera, in a series of carefully choreographed performances that successfully create a balanced mixture of modern dance and Viennese waltz.