Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

A subforum to discuss film culture and criticism.
Post Reply
Message
Author
jdcopp
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:34 pm
Location: Boston Ma
Contact:

Re: Eric Rohmer 1920-2010

#151 Post by jdcopp » Mon Mar 07, 2016 5:20 pm


User avatar
MaxBercovicz
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:21 pm

Re: Eric Rohmer 1920-2010

#152 Post by MaxBercovicz » Thu May 05, 2016 5:46 pm

I really like Rohmer. So far I've only seen:

Chloe in the Afternoon
Claire's Knee
The Green Ray
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon

But he's the type where after I've seen one or two, I'm pretty sure I'll love 90% of his work.

User avatar
justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: Eric Rohmer 1920-2010

#153 Post by justeleblanc » Sat May 07, 2016 2:36 am

MaxBercovicz wrote:I really like Rohmer. So far I've only seen:

Chloe in the Afternoon
Claire's Knee
The Green Ray
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon

But he's the type where after I've seen one or two, I'm pretty sure I'll love 90% of his work.
Be sure to watch My Night at Maud's, A Tale of Winter, and A Tale of Summer.

User avatar
D50
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 2:00 am
Location: USA

Re: Eric Rohmer 1920-2010

#154 Post by D50 » Sat May 07, 2016 12:06 pm

I just saw A Summer's Tale (library hoopla), and they also have A Tale of Winter, Full Moon in Paris, 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle, and The Marquise of O. I'll now watch any and all of Eric Rohmer's films that I can get my hands on.

Only now realizing that Melvil Poupaud in Summer also played Laurence in Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways.

User avatar
rush.1
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 12:44 am

Re: Eric Rohmer 1920-2010

#155 Post by rush.1 » Thu May 26, 2016 9:44 pm

What I liked most about Rohmer is his method of how to present his characters and their manners. He really understand the way men think and the things they desire. I was amazed how he cleverly built up the relations between the characters and drove them to the line he wanted to reach. Rohmer has always pictured the affairs in many different ways. Yet, he became one the few greatest directors who cleverly know the making films of affairs.

User avatar
Kat
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:53 am

Re: Eric Rohmer 1920-2010

#156 Post by Kat » Tue Sep 13, 2016 4:03 pm

Thanks for all the fab links on this thread, many still to be savoured. And the many great posts.

I find Rohmer inspirational. A poet. Walt Whitman wrote that we expect a poet to "to indicate the path between reality and [our] souls." which seems so true of him - but many things true of poets and poetry apply of course. I'm sad that despite every opportunity I've only discovered him in the last five years or so, my journey to get there not unlike one of his heroines to her heart, wonder how different life would have been to have heard one of his conversations as they came out, or one of the already famous ones. Something to regret, but happy to have got to him.

I'm working my way through his films, on DVD mostly, slowly and with relish. I saw a film club projection of The Green Ray that began this and led me to the Arrow box set. Seeing The Aviator's Wife I may have seen it long ago or part of it, but never got back to it. So his Comedies and Proverbs have come first for me. I love the Moral Tales, especially My Night at Mauds, La Collectioneuse and Love in The Afternoon - but I notice a slight spikiness to these films compared to the comedies and proverbs. This may be given their focus on men, I sometimes wonder if it is also anything to do with more experience of life. I'm wondering if there is more forgiveness in him later (on my limited experience of his films). I don't really have any of those that I've seen that I do not like. I loved The Marquise of O, so beautifully paced -- and interesting in that regard to compare with Barry Lyndon which must have been made at a similar time ('75 and '76 I see), also well paced but more bursting with action. That pace so important, so lost now.

I've seen the first two of the Tales of the Four Seasons - I don't agree with some that Springtime is weak (respectfully) - for me it is not in the least bit weak, it is a triumph of an argument for non judgement and open heartedness. That is quiet in tone, but strong. This week I saw A Winter's Tale - I'd have said it was impossible to, but feel he surpassed himself, profound, moving, yet light in some ways, provoked cries from me. An artist as others have said. I suppose it's brought me here (thanks to a friend (I think who's posted previously) who recommended this place) to register a first post and just say it. I hope to watch them all, and again and again and lucky to see i have quite a number to see (an finally finish reading Pascal). I've put off reading the new biography (new in English) - but this week, and a few days off, I can't resist.

I enjoy his interiors as much as exteriors (in people too) and a sense that for all there's a caution, conservatism, that there is so much radical about him in approach, subjects. His approach to character and manners indeed rush.1.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#157 Post by Matt » Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:49 pm

If I want to know more about Rohmer and his filmmaking, what’s a good (short-ish) introduction or overview? Is his own writing for Cahiers worth starting with or does he tend to obscure his own methods? I’m not really interested in biography or a comprehensive survey of the work, but I want to be able to appreciate his film work on a slightly deeper level. Thx

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#158 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jul 01, 2022 10:32 pm

This one is quite excellent.

User avatar
Mr Sheldrake
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:09 pm
Location: Jersey burbs exit 4

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#159 Post by Mr Sheldrake » Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:38 am

If you ever are interested in a biography I highly recommend the 2016 one co-written by Antoine de Baecque, one of the best bios I have ever read of a film director, or anyone else for that matter. He also wrote a great one on Truffaut that has been translated into English. His Godard and Chabrol bios haven’t been translated yet hopefully someday.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#160 Post by Matt » Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:23 am

Rayon Vert wrote:This one is quite excellent.
I’ve just bought it now, a year later. I finally started up the Tales of Four Seasons and was knocked out by A Tale of Winter. The biography is too long for me right now (over 600 pages), and the books of his essays and interviews didn’t seem right as a first read.

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#161 Post by Rayon Vert » Mon Aug 07, 2023 8:28 am

Hope you enjoy it! I may have said it before elsewhere on the forum, but the one on Godard in that same series is also very good. Probably my favorite writing on him. (The Rivette one is good also, and used that to "do" his filmography. I also have the Renoir and the Varda - but I just started with her a few years ago, maybe more like 3, 4, before the box was released, and interrupted because of our incessant films lists. ;) )

User avatar
tolbs1010
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:01 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#162 Post by tolbs1010 » Mon Aug 07, 2023 11:00 am

Matt wrote:
Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:23 am
I finally started up the Tales of Four Seasons and was knocked out by A Tale of Winter.
I watched this over the weekend for the first time. It left me feeling unaccountably happy and hopeful. Charlotte Véry's performance melted me.

A Summer's Tale is also charming in a more low-key way. Looking forward to seeing the other two, if I can find a copy of them.

User avatar
soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#163 Post by soundchaser » Mon Aug 07, 2023 1:32 pm

A Tale of Autumn is my personal favorite, but it benefits from having seen a lot of Rohmer's other work. If you liked A Tale of Winter for its ending, you'll probably still appreciate it regardless. (I also wholeheartedly recommend both the big Rohmer bio and the smaller monograph on Rivette, which is the best long-form piece about him in English.)

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#164 Post by Matt » Wed Aug 09, 2023 12:59 am

A Tale of Summer is a visually beautiful film, all those Brittany seaside vistas and sunlit sands. I would probably have more to say about it once it, and the series, has sunk in a little more.

But one thing that really struck me is how oddly plessing it was to see actors who were my age at the time playing contemporary, realistic characters their same age who actually look and behave like people I knew. I mean, in contrast to actors older than me playing characters my age (Reality Bites, Singles) or actors my age playing characters in high school (“90210,” etc.) Or in contrast to actors my age playing characters from the ‘50s or ‘60s (Stand by Me) or characters in highly stylized or exaggerated situations and settings (Heathers, Edward Scissorhands).

I suppose the Before trilogy (which owes an obvious debt to Rohmer) feels similar to me, as well as the Gen-X blueprints of John Hughes. All the same, the people in this movie are still wildly more attractive than just about anyone I knew at the time, but that’s showbiz for you.

Image

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#165 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Aug 11, 2023 7:21 pm

I love Conte d'été, it's up there with my favorite films of his.

I'll start by saying though that I don't find that overall this series is as stellar as the previous two. My take on Spring is that the writing is fine and intelligent as usual, but this is the first Rohmer I experienced where the dialogue-heavy style actually feels a little heavy and dull at times. There’s nothing seriously wrong here but the film doesn’t shine either and theme-wise it feels less layered and captivating than the films in Rohmer’s previous series. The actors at times are also a bit awkward, especially the father figure played by Hughes Quester.

Autumn is better but not perfect. There are a lot of sequences to appreciate in this matchmaking story but the delight I experienced up to halfway or so started diminishing afterwards. I had a hard time putting my finger exactly on what was responsible - maybe a little something too cute in the "dénouement", maybe in the acting. Acting in Rohmer is often ever-so-slightly literary/theatrical while still feeling natural, but here it feels a bit false, at times almost badly played, especially on the part of Romand reunited here with other the Rohmer stalwart Marie Rivière. Still a film with charm, though.

Winter seems to be a favorite for a lot of people. I appreciate this one slightly more than the previous two but I also have ambivalent feelings towards it. Quite explicitly, it revisits the religious territory of Ma Nuit Chez Maud, and is more serious in tone than Rohmer’s other films in this series. The quality is again evident, but as with Conte de printemps, there’s something not quite as fresh as the preceding Comédies et proverbes cycle. There are moments that are flat, and to express something very contrary to what at least another person has said just upthread, I felt the film wass somewhat hurt by the lead character played by Charlotte Véry, whose selfishness in her love affairs gets unappealing. That isn’t a trait that’s unique in the Rohmerian heroine, but, unlike say Le Beau Mariage, the lack of comedy makes her a little hard to take at times – even though her romantic illusions are in the end melded with the theme of faith that is at the core of the film.

Conte d'été
I just find is a sheer delight, recalling the best of the previous series. The story, as it were, couldn’t be simpler, involving a young man’s choice between two potential girlfriends and a new girl friend while on holiday in Bretagne. Rohmer once again shows amazingly subtle observations in the psychology of people in relationships and the games of love and seduction, not to mention the behavior of very young people. The four characters are all very drawn and played, and there isn’t a moment lacking charm, with a bittersweet ending. The Derek Schelling book is very eloquent about the subtle attention given to nature in all his films (including the sounds) and that's definitely the case here. It's easy to perceive a certain spirituality in that love of nature, like in Powell for example, but with Rohmer it's extremely subtle and earthly, just something in the background and surrounding, not overtly mystical at all (perhaps except for that ending to Le Rayon Vert!)), the human focus suffused with a certain surrounding grace that's easy to miss. You can say most Rohmer films are love stories in nature.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#166 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:37 pm

Ete is easily my favorite of the quartet too.

The protag of Hiver is one of the most annoying and unlikable in movie history. Rohmer miscalculates how much patience an audience member can have with a character like this, and this is coming from someone who loves a lot of movies about total assholes!

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#167 Post by Matt » Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:45 pm

Excellent post, Rayon Vert, and I think you say eloquently some of the things I find most pleasurable about this series but find hard to verbalize.

I’ve just finished Automne which I found beautiful, visually and emotionally. I enjoy the artifice of the romantic plots, so reminiscent of the matchmaking, miscommunications, and coincidences of both Shakespeare and classic film melodrama. This film particularly, with its focus on a prickly Miss Lonelyhearts who seems dead set on ruining with her own insecurities any possible intimate connection she might have (couldn’t be me), is particularly appealing. And I’m also charmed by the somewhat untutored/rough-edged/awkward acting which, for me, makes the characters seem even more relatable and the filmmaking less slick.

I’ve also noticed that I really enjoy the lack of any non-diegetic music, and I typically prefer films with wall-to-wall scores or soundtracks. Here the music is conversation, and I find myself caught up in the rhythms and sounds of the speech and missing some of the actual words—a regular problem with me who knows enough French to understand most of what’s being said but not enough to dispense with subtitles entirely. But here it doesn’t seem necessary to hang on every word.

I’ve seen all of the Six Moral Tales and now these Four Seasons films, and I have the Arrow Comedies and Proverbs set (a couple of which I’ve already seen) and the Derek Schilling book on the way, so I guess you could say I’m well on my way to Rohmer fandom.

To be crass about it, I would rank the four films thusly:
1. Hiver
2. Automne
3. Éte
4. Printemps

I still liked Printemps very much but found the character of Natacha (Florence Darel) irritating to the point of distraction. Which means it was a good and believable performance, but the film also felt the least consequential because nothing has really changed for any of the characters at the end of the film.

Hiver is now probably my third favorite of the Rohmer films I’ve seen (after Le Rayon Vert and Claire’s Knee), but after the Comedies and Proverbs I will revisit some of the Six Moral Tales soon if my attention span holds. Bad news for my new Pasolini, Boetticher, and Szulkin sets and the 20-odd other recent purchases begging for my time.
Last edited by Matt on Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#168 Post by Matt » Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:53 pm

domino harvey wrote:The protag of Hiver is one of the most annoying and unlikable in movie history. Rohmer miscalculates how much patience an audience member can have with a character like this, and this is coming from someone who loves a lot of movies about total assholes!
I found it pretty difficult to like her as well, but I appreciated her naive but devout faith in an eventual reunion with Charles (again, to the point of sabotaging her actual current relationships) and her discovering a unexpected and direct emotional connection with art when she sees the Shakespeare play. I really love (hate) when a movie makes me suddenly and deeply identify with a character I would otherwise find intolerable. (Hello to Margot at the Wedding, The Piano Teacher, and Ghost World!)

User avatar
soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#169 Post by soundchaser » Fri Aug 11, 2023 10:01 pm

L'Ami de mon amie has some of the all-time great use of a city -- my favorite no small part for that reason. I know he's thought of primarily as a director of dialogue, but Rohmer accomplishes something with Cergy-Pontoise that reminds me of Tativille in Playtime. If you haven't seen that one, I really hope you enjoy it!

User avatar
Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#170 Post by Murdoch » Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:14 pm

L'Ami de mon amie is my favorite Rohmer and I think his best film, alongside Le Rayon Vert. Rohmer in the 80s brings me a specific type of joy that is largely missing from his more esteemed 60s work, and I think it's because his 80s work, particularly the two films I named, focus on protagonists who are often uncertain of themselves and suffer from a type of social anxiety that affects how they conduct themselves. I haven't seen such an accurate reflection of myself, or perceived self, on screen as I have in those films, nor can I think of any other director who accomplished such a perfect series of films as Rohmer's Comedies and Proverbs in such quick succession.
Last edited by Murdoch on Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#171 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:16 pm

Matt wrote:
Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:45 pm
but after the Comedies and Proverbs I will revisit some of the Six Moral Tales soon if my attention span holds. Bad news for my new Pasolini, Boetticher, and Szulkin sets and the 20-odd other recent purchases begging for my time.
I know the feeling.

Let me know if and when you do start revising the SMT, because I'd started watching the Criterion blu-ray upgrade (as usual these days) a while back but am only half way in. More motivating if I know someone's gonna watch at the same time and maybe help spur a thought or two!

edit: And since I didn't get a chance to go through the Arrow box yet and only the Potemkine, I guess now is as good a time as any to do the C&P again!
Last edited by Rayon Vert on Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#172 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:19 pm

Another vote here for L'Amie de mon amie as favorite Rohmer (with RV as close second!). I think I may have posted about this but hopefully Matt's viewing will lead to discussing it again.

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#173 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:21 pm

Murdoch wrote:
Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:14 pm
nor can I think of any other director who accomplished such a perfect series of films as Rohmer's Comedies and Proverbs in such quick succession.
I no longer think as highly of his work as I used to, but Woody Allen and Rohmer there were really on a (prolific) roll at the same time!

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#174 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:33 pm

L'Ami de mon amie is right up with Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle, though I need to see both again to remember why I loved them so much, let alone differentiate between the two!

My default is usually La Collectionneuse as his best, primarily because it's so atypically risky for Rohmer in its narrative perversity, and probably his richest film to study. I do think some of his other strong works have a unique, ethereal vibe that transcends analysis, and that can be just as rich in their own way

User avatar
tolbs1010
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:01 pm

Re: Éric Rohmer (1920-2010)

#175 Post by tolbs1010 » Sat Aug 12, 2023 12:55 am

Some thoughts on Conte d'Hiver and the somewhat uncharitable view that Charlotte Very's character is selfish or unlikable:
SpoilerShow
Because Rohmer preps us with the great opening montage of idyllic love with Charles, the audience is clued in to why she is indecisive and even somewhat manipulative (though always honest) with the other two men. She is in a real-life situation where she has to weigh the practical choice of two opposite but equally unsatisfying alternatives to her idyllic love. One man is groveling at her feet and wants to keep her even on the most pathetic terms. He is the most unlikable and annoying character in my view. No one likes a simp, least of all an attractive woman. The other man has a certain amount of control over her as her employer and immediately begins to define her in ways that are all about how she adorns his life. He also reveals through his actions that he will never understand that her daughter has to be the priority over him. These relationships are the opposite of idyllic love. They are imbalanced and based on one person having more need/control than the other. That's life and most relationships to varying degrees in the real world. But the title tells us this is a tale...

The whole movie is about whether she will fold to these real-life safe choices rather than following her heart, or hope, or faith, or whatever word you want to attach to the unexplainable feeling we all get sometimes and don't follow. The low percentage play that isn't likely to pay off, but the feeling itself is enough to make life worth living (I think she even words it similarly in one scene). Who cares if she led these other men on. Those were real-life choices and compromises. She doesn't cave completely to them when she easily could, and that's the point. She holds out for the fairy tale (Conte), and when it comes true it is beautiful. Like her and her daughter, I shed some tears of joy.

Post Reply