That Most Important Thing: Love (1975)

Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from the loan sharks to finance the ... See full summary »

Director:

Andrzej Zulawski

Writers:

Christopher Frank (novel), Christopher Frank (adaptation)

Stars:

Romy Schneider, Fabio Testi, Jacques Dutronc

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romy Schneider	...	Nadine Chevalier
Fabio Testi	...	Servais Mont
Jacques Dutronc	...	Jacques Chevalier
Claude Dauphin	...	Mazelli
Roger Blin	...	Le père de Servais
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	Madame Mazelli
Michel Robin	...	Raymond Lapade
Guy Mairesse	...	Laurent Messala
Katia Tchenko	...	Myriam
Nicoletta Machiavelli	...	Luce
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) (as Andree Tainsy)

Storyline

Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from the loan sharks to finance the theatrical production of 'Richard III' and gives Nadine a part. Nadine is torn apart between Servais, for whom she is falling in love, and her husband Jacques, to whom she has moral obligations.

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Plot Keywords:

love | decadence | orgy | husband wife relationship | sex | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Romy Schneider' considered this movie her best work.

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Quotes

Nadine Chevalier: I'm dubbing Jane Fonda.

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Alternate Versions

Italian video version excludes some violent and explicit erotic scenes and runs 105 min.

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Connections

References Earth (1930)

User Reviews

Uninteresting Plot, Far Too Slow, Pointless Nudity Everywhere, But Well-Acted

Pros: 1. Both Romy Schneider (Nadine Chevalier) and Fabio Testi (Servais Mont) give really good performances. 2. Fabio Testi and Romy Schneider also have great chemistry with each other.

Cons: 1. The dialogue is quite obviously dubbed and it's incredibly distracting. 2. The cinematography is really strange. Not only is it filled with pointless zoom-ins and framing decisions, but the lighting is exceedingly ugly. 3. The score is very overbearing and played way too loudly. 4. The sound design is often wayward. During a scene that takes place in a hallway, for example, the sound that is emitted sounds as if the scene was filmed in a shallow cave. 5. The plot is unengaging and nonsensical at times. 6. None of the characters are particularly likable or interesting. 7. The pacing is far too slow which means the movie is a little laborious to get through. 8. There is too much pointless nudity that just feels inserted for shock value.

Details

Country:

France Italy West Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

April 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'important c'est d'aimer

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,370, 16 July 2017

Gross USA:

$19,120

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,120

Company Credits

Production Co:

Albina Productions S.a.r.l., Rizzoli Film, TIT Filmproduktion GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 105 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1