Featuring nuanced performances by all three lead actors; Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux and Vittorio De Sica, and directed by celebrated auteur Max Ophuls (Letter From an Unknown Woman, La Ronde), the intricately constructed and elegantly designed drama Madame de... is a searing study of fateful passion wound up in deceits, deals and desires.

When, beset by debt, the titular Countess Louise (Danielle Darrieux) decides to sell a pair of earrings that were a wedding gift from her husband André (Charles Boyer), she unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that will have serious consequences not only for the Parisian couple but for André’s mistress and for an Italian Baron (Vittorio De Sica) who purchases the, by then, much-travelled jewellery.

Madame de... is based on the novel by Louise de Vilmorin. It was Max Ophuls’ penultimate film before his untimely death in 1957, at just 55, and received an Oscar nomination for its costume design.

Announced today – Madame de… will be screened in Cannes Classics at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in honour of Danielle Darrieux’s 100th birthday on 1 May.

Newly restored by Gaumont, Madame de... will be released on Blu-ray (for the first time in the UK) and DVD in a Dual Format Edition by the BFI on 22 May 2017 at the RRP of £19.99.

Special features:

• Max Ophuls, le peintre de l'amour fatal (Dominique Maillet, 2013, 61 mins): A documentary on Max Ophuls and the making of Madame de… featuring interviews with his collaborators
• Working with Max Ophuls (Robert Fischer, 2005, 27 mins): interview with Alain Jessua about his training under Max Ophuls and his experiences of working on Madame de…
• Illustrated booklet with writing by Laura Mulvey, Adrian Danks, and Lindsay Anderson; tributes to the director and full film credits

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