L'important c'est d'aimer (1975)

Director:

Andrzej Zulawski

Writers:

Christopher Frank (novel)
Christopher Frank (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

April 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies...

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Love | Loan | Orgy | Obsession

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Romy Schneider	...	Nadine Chevalier
Fabio Testi	...	Servais Mont
Jacques Dutronc	...	Jacques Chevalier
Claude Dauphin	...	Mazelli
Roger Blin	...	Le père de Servais / Servais's father
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	Madame Mazelli
Michel Robin	...	Raymond Lapade
Guy Mairesse	...	Laurent Messala
Katia Tchenko	...	Myriam, la putain
Nicoletta Machiavelli	...	Luce, la femme de Lapade
Klaus Kinski	...	Karl-Heinz Zimmer
Paul Bisciglia	...	L'assistant-metteur en scène
Henri Coutet	...	Le père de Jacques (scenes deleted)
Sylvain Levignac	...	Le premier homme dans la brasserie (as Sylvain)
Andrée Tainsy	...	La mère de Jacques (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

L'importante è amare (Italy)
La merci! (France) (working title)
Nachtblende
That Most Important Thing: Love (USA)
The Main Thing Is to Love

Runtime:

109 min | Germany:105 min (cut)

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | France:-16 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Albina Productions S.a.r.l.

Trivia:

'Romy Schneider' considered this movie her best work.

Quotes:

Nadine Chevalier: I'm dubbing Jane Fonda.

Movie Connections:

References Love Among the Millionaires (1930)

Ranks high in low points; perhaps supreme in post-La Dolce Vita emptiness. Romy a must-see.

I'm not surprised to read here at IMDb that Romy called this her best work. She leads a cast of irresistible losers (Dutronc, Kinski, Testi) in the wholly believable debauchery that is so truly the amoral dilemma of the profession Maugham has called "THE show business". The physical electricity of these performers is such that I came away from it thirty years ago thinking that Miss Schneider was Brando's doppelganger. Or perhaps she WAS Brando! After all, they were never seen together, were they? If acting may be defined as the truthful response to fictional stimuli, then this film, which, by the way, must be screening daily in both Heaven and Hell, was perhaps shot in one cosmic take. These actors display - seamlessly - their bodies, their appetites, their loves, egos, ids and superegos. Never mind the sadness, life is for learning.