Ophuls’ beautiful female protagonists appear to be femme fatales. Either Louise (Madame de...) looks at Donati through a monocular and he falls off his horse, or Lisa (Letter From an Unknown Woman) sends Stefan off on the train to return a ruined musician or even worse she sends her son away to die of typhus. Leonora (Caught) nearly kills her husband and Lucia (Reckless Moment) feels responsible for Donnelly’s death. Albeit, these women seem to be the cause of the ruin and death of their lovers, yet Ophuls’ message goes deeper. Either these men are actually killed out of the husband’s desire for control of his wife or the man sacrifices himself to save a woman from the control of another man. Ophuls’ condemns a society that condones women’s disempowerment; thus, in his films he punishes the men: the men kill the men.
Marriage and the Femme Fatale
Lisa and Louise are burdened by similar military marriages. Both female protagonists fall in love with someone yet do not have an affairs with them; but threaten their husbands’ pride in their interest in another man nonetheless. The military husbands insist that their wives obey and conduct themselves in a way that is honorable and decent. It is actually the husband’s pride and belief in his possession of his wife that allows him the ‘right’ to murder another man and consequently his wife as well. The tragedy is that the femme fatales are blamed for the deaths of their lovers when it is clear that their husband’s pride was responsible. Their husbands pull the trigger, not the wives.
Smith's Beautiful Woman
Leonora appears to cause the heart failure of Smith, by resisting his demand to come downstairs in the middle of the night, despite her pregnancy. Smith’s pride and self-importance are what corrupt his heart. Leonora, on several occasions, returns to Smith and tries to love him. Each time, she is thwarted by his controlling ways. Even Smith’s psychiatrist informed Smith that he has heart attacks when he does not get what he wants. By not listening to professional advice, Smith sabotages his own life.
Disempowered Lucia
Donnelly realizes the criminal he has become through his interaction with Lucia. I perceive Donnelly’s self-sacrifice as an attempt for Donnelly to redeem himself for his past. In his monologue outside the boathouse, after killing Nagel, he explains to Lucia that he regrets his life and wishes that he “could turn back and start over”. Sadly, the only way he can repair the damage he has done in his life is to prevent Lucia and her family from being destroyed by a man like him.
Ophuls' female protagonists are beautiful women who play tragic roles in their difficult oppressive relationships. Their husbands/men destroy themselves out of pride, but their wives are blamed despite their innocence.
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