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CommentsXp Best movie ever!

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Stephen Alfieri "The Golden Coach" was an interesting project for Jean Renoir. According to his own biography, this film interested him on more of a design level, than on a story-telling level. He was much more interested in the "look" of the costumes, scenery, wigs and make-up. There have even been stories about how he would have sets built, then when the actors showed up in costume, he would order that the sets were the wrong colors, and needed to be re-painted. And from a technical point of view, the film is a feast for the eyes, and therefore a success.The cast, especially Anna Magnani as Camilla, is excellent. They play the characters in a commedia dell'arte style production. Since the characters and the actors who portray them are all a little loud and full of energy, I found the "play within a play" structure to be appropriately maddening. I'm not sure what Renoir intended, but I thought that the story, while contrived, was interesting.7 out of 10

Michael Neumann Jean Renoir's colorful English language comedy is not the masterpiece prevailing critical opinion would have you believe ("riotously textural!" raved the Village Voice), but it is a pleasant and entertaining novelty. A spirited Anna Magnani leads a troupe of Italian actors to a Spanish colony in 18th century Peru, where the appreciative Viceroy rewards her talent (and beauty) with the gift of a golden coach, setting off a small political and romantic scandal. It plays for the most part not unlike a literate stage farce, and Renoir emphasizes the theatricality of the story by directing (and shooting) it like theatre, with deliberate, flat compositions and distracting color costumes; the action even begins on a legitimate stage, the walls of which 'disappear' as soon as Renoir's camera dollies into it. The (at the time) newly struck 1992 print, presented by Martin Scorsese, shows obvious evidence of restoration only in the curious epilogue, which brings the story back to its original stage setting, and appears to have been poorly reconstructed on video.

laurel21000 The only other film I had seen by Jean Renoir was Rules of the Game. That was, of course, sheer genius so I couldn't wait to watch this one.For the first few minutes I was completely captivated. The colors. The costumes. The music. It was a feast for the eyes and the ears.But then, horrors, it actually became -- oh no -- a bit tedious. To say I'm not a fan of Commedia dell'Arte would be an understatement, so some of the theatrical scenes at the beginning of the film began to seem interminable.But yay. I solved that problem by fast-forwarding through them.And then as I sank back into the film it suddenly caught fire.I was transfixed. Original plans had been to watch it over two nights but I couldn't let go. The film would not let me go. It had seized me and there would be no release.I think it is because while watching Renoir's work, you know indisputably that you are in the presence of genius. It radiates through the screen. It surrounds you. It leaves you awestruck.I want to watch it again. I want to figure out how Renoir does this. How he weaves this magic. How he creates this momentum to move the story forward in such a way as to have the excitement of the most intense action film.Speaking of action, there is a sword fight in this film that is wonderful.And tons of humor.And it's loaded with so much heart.Anna Magnani was great.As great as Magnani was, even greater, IMO, was Duncan Lamont who played the Viceroy. I immediately looked him up to search out his other work.One interesting side note for me was in the accents. This was the version of the film that had been filmed in English and there were all kinds of different accents of it floating around among the cast of characters. Alas, it was kind of sad to realize how poorly, in contrast to all of the others, the American accent(from beloved U.S.ofA) fared in comparison. Ah, life.

citykid This film is really a masterpiece. This was also French director François Truffaut's opinion, and he named his film company "Les Films du Carrosse" as a tribute to it. I once read a review in which the critic expressed the opinion that Anna Magnani's looks couldn't make it likely that the male characters of the plot fell in love with her. But this is a complete misunderstanding of the story, it is not because of her beauty they love her, but because she makes them laugh, she brings them to that other world which theater creates. For aren't we all made of the same stuff dreams are made of, as the great Will once wrote?... If you haven't seen this film, don't wait if you get a chance to watch it. In France, where I live, it's not available in DVD yet, but since it recently came out in the US, and in Japan, I am looking forward to soon finding it here.