That Most Important Thing: Love

Vehicle for late-period Romy Schneider to show off intense and over the top emotions; this late-period French New Wave film has great style at the expense of plausibility

This film's title is actually translated as "The Most Important Thing: Love" has earned a valid place in French Film History for Romy Schneider's performance. The infamous and beautiful actress is so good here that it is sometimes feels like she is allowing more of a glimpse into her than her character. Add this to Klaus Kinski's odd but charismatic presence along with a youthful Jacques Dutronc and Andrzej ?u?awski presents a surprisingly examination of both an artist struggling to find her place in mid-1970's theatre scene to escape her abysmal cinematic opportunities and an obsessively compulsive tragic love triangle. It is all very dated, but still bears validity as film art.

Certainly not for every taste. Many will be put-off by the hysterical theatrics. However, it one enjoys unbridled passionate filmmaking -- this film is an Art House treat. Romy Schneider is unforgettable. Her mere charisma is a major factor in this film's success. Jacques Dutronc gives a surprisingly uncharacteristic turn as the impotent husband. Klaus Kinski is allowed out of his cage and is fascinating to watch. An odd and captivating met-film.

A lovely romance. Zulaswski's brilliance here is to take what is essentially a soap opera (and a pretty rich one at that) and transform it into something profoundly beautiful. The efforts of a great underdog cast, the manic cinematography of Ricardo Aronovich, and the heart-rending score of Georges Delerue all go a long way toward helping.

Wow what a great film. You don't see very many that hold this kind of depth or emotion. I think the title speaks for itself, "The Most Important Thing is to Love." Kudos to the French!

This film is amazing; the acting is phenomenal!

Existentiellt drama på det sättet bara Zulawski gör dom. Hur lyckas han egentligen få så självutlämnande, oinsmickrande och snudd på transliknande skådespelarprestationer ur etablerade skådisar som Romy Schneider? Hur lyckas han få ett relationsdrama att kännas som en krigsfilm? Hur fan gör karln?

sad and intense, I loved Kinski

Man ?M)? Woman. Art ?M)? Real. Zulawski ?M)? Cinema. It's complicated. It's also the most realistic love story I've seen on screen

In "The Most Important Thing: Love," Servais Mont(Fabio Testi) is a war photographer who is forced to pay off his father's(Roger Blin) debts by working for Mazelli(Claude Dauphin), a pornographer. Not aware of the favor his son is doing for him, he crashes on his couch while romancing a Wimpy's waitress. There is nothing out of the ordinary in Servais' assignment of getting unauthorized photos at the set of an exploitation flick until the pleas of Nadine(Romy Schneider), a 30ish actress, strike a chord with him. So, the following day, he goes to her house ostensibly to photograph her half naked for a magazine cover while her husband Jacques(Jacques Dutronc) is in the other room making coffee and singing opera off key in order to get to know her better. However, they do not like it when he shows up unannounced at 5 am. In order to make it up to her and back into her good graces, Servais arranges for her to star in a play. "The Most Important Thing: Love" is an oddly engaging film that it is perhaps necessary to take a step back from in order to fully appreciate it. And while we have seen other movies before and since with a movie within a movie, the difference here is that once the filming is over, the viewer is still in a strange world where it is hard to tell what is real and the men from the women without a scorecard. Granted, this is the seamy underside of pornography and exploitation films(not the same thing, by the way) with titles like "Nymphocula," but that does not mean all hope is lost, especially for Nadine, even if she is in a profession where youth is worshipped. Servais is drawn to her because at least she is real while Jacques was drawn to her because of her being involved in an unreal business.