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ELENA AND HER MEN |
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Jean Renoir's romantic comedy Elena and Her Men stars Ingrid Bergman in her most sensual role as a beautiful, but impoverished, Polish princess in turn-of-the-century Paris. Having sold her last pearl to pay the rent, Princess Elena is forced to accept a marriage proposal from a wealthy suitor. Her amorous adventures continue, however, when she meets the dashing General Rollan (Jean Marais) and his friend Count Henri (Mel Ferrer) at a festive Bastille Day celebration. Both men are instantly smitten by her and this romantic triangle is soon further complicated when a band of conniving politicians attempt to turn the popular Rollan into the new leader of France. The final sequences bring to a head many of Renoir's greatest themes: life as staged spectacle, the earthly passions that shadow great events, and the peculiar strengths of the French philosophy of life and love.
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