La Ronde is narrated by an all-knowing man, who seemingly exists in all time, and also out of time's boundaries. He facilitates and observes fleeting moments of love. In some ways, this is the - more focused - 1950s version of Love Actually; you are shown endless variations with which we mortals experience lust, romance, sex, age, class and race... this is a guided tour of love itself.
La Ronde is a good deal more risqué than you'd expect from a film made around 60 years ago, and that's what helps makes it so darned watchable now. It's not just the casual roundabout of relationships that makes La Ronde work though, it's also the camera-work. The camera performs complex maneuvers up and down and around very lived-in sets; giving the audience a feeling they're as much of a voyeuristic specter as the narrator himself. It's a work of art that was many years ahead of its time. Here's a song from the film:
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