On representation and ethics in Reigen by A. Schnitzler and reinterpretations by Max Ophüls and Fernando Meirelles

Abstract

In 1903 Arthur Schnitzler published the play Reigen (La ronde), which presented ten dialogues, each one occurring before and after a sexual conquest. The play intended to present typical behavior of social statuses through the way each figure behaved in achieving the same goal. The sexual inferences in the text caused a commotion and it was criticized as being immoral. In 1950 the play was transposed to the screen in a movie directed by Max Ophüls. This work was basically faithful to the play, but gave a certain lightness to the theme, which would seem to indicate a loosening of moral standards toward sex during that period. In 2012 Fernando Meirelles directed a film inspired by Schnitzler's play: 360. Even though the present day stands out for its sexual liberation, the movie does not show Ophüls' lightness. On the contrary, the film is bleak and depicts interpersonal relationships through the prism of guilt implied by infidelity and repressed sexual desires. In this article we will discuss how the theme of lust and sexual impulses expressed by Schnitzler evolved in its different representations after more than a century, and how the ethical problem was shaped to each work and its moment in history.