Though the films of Andrzej Zulawski are known for their boisterous energy and feverish excesses of sex, violence and the bizarre, his third film L’important c’est d’aimer (The Important Thing is to Love) is tempered by a richly humanistic story and a shattering performance by Romy Schneider.
She plays Nadine Chevalier, a once-promising actress reduced to roles in pornographic films. Servais Mont (Fabio Testi), a handsome ex-combat photographer, sneaks on set to take unauthorised shots of Nadine, and in that moment they connect. Aware that she is out of work and living on charity, Servais agrees to film a VIP sex orgy for the mob to use as blackmail fodder, and uses his earnings to buy Nadine the female lead in a new production of Richard III, directed by the transvestite lover of wealthy stage actor Karl-Heinz Zimmer (Klaus Kinski). Servais soon finds himself ensconced in a minefield of broken hearts and corrupted dreams.
Based on a novel by Christopher Frank, Zulawski’s adaptation is arguably his greatest film. It is certainly his most deeply affecting. Schneider was never more beautiful onscreen, while Kinski is also extraordinary. As always with Zulawski, the film is packed with incidental characters who linger under the skin. - Tim Lucas, Sight & Sound
