Film ReviewsA Summer's Tale: Love is Enough
Mar 20, 2015 Anchorage Press
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The French filmmaker Eric Rohmer directed over 50 works for television and cinema from 1950 to 2007. His long career and prolific body of work spans the gamut from writing, to cinema moraliste, and his late work that is about love as the human condition that protagonists flow in, out of, and through as the seasons turn and phases of life come and go. The term "moraliste" doesn't quite do the genre justice when translated directly as "moral" or "moralist" in English, because it is far more complex as the French concept than in the English translation. "Moraliste" is about exercising fluid philosophical and ethical thought processes in relation to an individual's life and decision-making, the term is not about passing black and white-or prescribed-judgment. Viewers who are familiar with Claire's Knee know exactly what this means, after all, is there such a thing as a little sexual abuse? In the case of the Four Seasons however, Rohmer steps away from the "moraliste" mode of working, and while he retains remnants of the process, he focuses on the all-time and universal truth of Love-and it's delightful!
Eric Rohmer's Four Seasons is made up of four films, A Tale of Spring Time (Conte de Printemps, 1989), A Summer's Tale (Conte d'Été, 1996), Autumn Tale (Conte d'Automne,1998), and A Tale of Winter (Conte d'Hiver, 1992). Despite the filmmaker's importance to French new wave cinema, and his acclaimed aesthetic and filmmaking style, his body of work has not been readily available to American viewers in its entirety. Luckily, A Summer's Tale and A Tale of Winter have now been re-released for American audiences, and they have been worth the wait.
Rohmer's movies are smart, sharp and articulate. They require that viewers keep up with the visual cues and listen closely as characters evolve before their eyes and ears through their respective process of questioning, arguing and justifying their shifts in ideas and emotions. Rohmer's characters are highly introspective and form relationships with one another that make the successful transcendence of the main character dependent on those around him or her. The magic in Rohmer's character development is that they retain a sense of humor even when they're in pain. Viewers can sympathize and see things from multiple vantage points at once, and the kindness with which characters treat one another rubs off on the viewer so that he or she genuinely grows to care. Rohmer uses a journaling technique to help document the days and help viewers manage the immediacy and constant flow of ideas that could otherwise be overwhelming.
A Summer's Tale tells the story of Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud), a young 20-something who travels to the coast of Brittany to meet up with a girl he met just a few months ago and has fallen totally in love with, or mostly totally in love with, or perhaps just with the idea of being in love with her. Gaspard is tall, has a mess of dark curls and his body moves like a flat, pasty surfboard with legs. He's so awkward that he is charming and, as it turns out, quite handsome. For the first 10 minutes or so of the film, viewers get to know Gaspard without him uttering a word, his gait and wandering speak volumes. As the days pass, he meets two other beautiful, young women he also loves with the same fluidity as the girl he's originally come to meet. Gaspard is angst-ridden as his heart ping-pongs from girl to girl to girl at the drop of a hat. However, the moments he spends with each girl are true for him and the girls. The clarity that Gaspard lacks, the young women have no trouble achieving, so A Summer's Tale is a little bittersweet and very honest.
A Tale of Winter is about a young hairdresser, Felicie, played by Charlotte Very, who falls deeply, truly and quickly in love, and then, through a momentary slip gives her lover the wrong address and they misplace one another. Fast forward five years and Felicie is in the midst of Parisian winter, vacillating between two lovers, and trying to make the best choices for her and her young daughter. Felicie is an amazingly complex character who wears her heart on her sleeve and is capable of so much love that she can imagine her life with either lover at one point or another. However, Felicie, realizes that while there are many types of love, and one can choose loves and relationships that fit well, this doesn't mean that these are great loves or true loves. She has a sense of hope and an unyielding belief in Love (with a capital "L"). It is because of this belief that she takes great risks without fear. A Tale of Winter is compelling and unapologetic, sometimes it is better to not settle for less.
In the Four Seasons body of work, Eric Rohmer equips his characters with resiliency and a voice that communicates to viewers the intricacies of searching for love, and the need for courage to give into love. The four movies present different phases of love and growing up, of taking risks and responsibility. In the end, Rohmer's legacy is that love is, indeed, enough.
Both films show at Beartooth on Monday, March 23. A Tale of Winter begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by A Summer's Tale at 8 p.m.
Eric Rohmer's Four Seasons is made up of four films, A Tale of Spring Time (Conte de Printemps, 1989), A Summer's Tale (Conte d'Été, 1996), Autumn Tale (Conte d'Automne,1998), and A Tale of Winter (Conte d'Hiver, 1992). Despite the filmmaker's importance to French new wave cinema, and his acclaimed aesthetic and filmmaking style, his body of work has not been readily available to American viewers in its entirety. Luckily, A Summer's Tale and A Tale of Winter have now been re-released for American audiences, and they have been worth the wait.
Rohmer's movies are smart, sharp and articulate. They require that viewers keep up with the visual cues and listen closely as characters evolve before their eyes and ears through their respective process of questioning, arguing and justifying their shifts in ideas and emotions. Rohmer's characters are highly introspective and form relationships with one another that make the successful transcendence of the main character dependent on those around him or her. The magic in Rohmer's character development is that they retain a sense of humor even when they're in pain. Viewers can sympathize and see things from multiple vantage points at once, and the kindness with which characters treat one another rubs off on the viewer so that he or she genuinely grows to care. Rohmer uses a journaling technique to help document the days and help viewers manage the immediacy and constant flow of ideas that could otherwise be overwhelming.
A Summer's Tale tells the story of Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud), a young 20-something who travels to the coast of Brittany to meet up with a girl he met just a few months ago and has fallen totally in love with, or mostly totally in love with, or perhaps just with the idea of being in love with her. Gaspard is tall, has a mess of dark curls and his body moves like a flat, pasty surfboard with legs. He's so awkward that he is charming and, as it turns out, quite handsome. For the first 10 minutes or so of the film, viewers get to know Gaspard without him uttering a word, his gait and wandering speak volumes. As the days pass, he meets two other beautiful, young women he also loves with the same fluidity as the girl he's originally come to meet. Gaspard is angst-ridden as his heart ping-pongs from girl to girl to girl at the drop of a hat. However, the moments he spends with each girl are true for him and the girls. The clarity that Gaspard lacks, the young women have no trouble achieving, so A Summer's Tale is a little bittersweet and very honest.
A Tale of Winter is about a young hairdresser, Felicie, played by Charlotte Very, who falls deeply, truly and quickly in love, and then, through a momentary slip gives her lover the wrong address and they misplace one another. Fast forward five years and Felicie is in the midst of Parisian winter, vacillating between two lovers, and trying to make the best choices for her and her young daughter. Felicie is an amazingly complex character who wears her heart on her sleeve and is capable of so much love that she can imagine her life with either lover at one point or another. However, Felicie, realizes that while there are many types of love, and one can choose loves and relationships that fit well, this doesn't mean that these are great loves or true loves. She has a sense of hope and an unyielding belief in Love (with a capital "L"). It is because of this belief that she takes great risks without fear. A Tale of Winter is compelling and unapologetic, sometimes it is better to not settle for less.
In the Four Seasons body of work, Eric Rohmer equips his characters with resiliency and a voice that communicates to viewers the intricacies of searching for love, and the need for courage to give into love. The four movies present different phases of love and growing up, of taking risks and responsibility. In the end, Rohmer's legacy is that love is, indeed, enough.
Both films show at Beartooth on Monday, March 23. A Tale of Winter begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by A Summer's Tale at 8 p.m.
The French filmmaker Eric Rohmer directed over 50 works for television and cinema from 1950 to 2007. His long career and prolific body of work spans the gamut from writing, to cinema moraliste, and his late work that is about love as the human condition that protagonists flow in, out of, and through as the seasons turn and phases of life come and go. The term "moraliste" doesn't quite do the genre justice when translated directly as "moral" or "moralist" in English, because it is far more complex as the French concept than in the English translation. "Moraliste" is about exercising fluid philosophical and ethical thought processes in relation to an individual's life and decision-making, the term is not about passing black and white-or prescribed-judgment. Viewers who are familiar with Claire's Knee know exactly what this means, after all, is there such a thing as a little sexual abuse? In the case of the Four Seasons however, Rohmer steps away from the "moraliste" mode of working, and while he retains remnants of the process, he focuses on the all-time and universal truth of Love-and it's delightful!
Eric Rohmer's Four Seasons is made up of four films, A Tale of Spring Time (Conte de Printemps, 1989), A Summer's Tale (Conte d'Été, 1996), Autumn Tale (Conte d'Automne,1998), and A Tale of Winter (Conte d'Hiver, 1992). Despite the filmmaker's importance to French new wave cinema, and his acclaimed aesthetic and filmmaking style, his body of work has not been readily available to American viewers in its entirety. Luckily, A Summer's Tale and A Tale of Winter have now been re-released for American audiences, and they have been worth the wait.
Rohmer's movies are smart, sharp and articulate. They require that viewers keep up with the visual cues and listen closely as characters evolve before their eyes and ears through their respective process of questioning, arguing and justifying their shifts in ideas and emotions. Rohmer's characters are highly introspective and form relationships with one another that make the successful transcendence of the main character dependent on those around him or her. The magic in Rohmer's character development is that they retain a sense of humor even when they're in pain. Viewers can sympathize and see things from multiple vantage points at once, and the kindness with which characters treat one another rubs off on the viewer so that he or she genuinely grows to care. Rohmer uses a journaling technique to help document the days and help viewers manage the immediacy and constant flow of ideas that could otherwise be overwhelming.
A Summer's Tale tells the story of Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud), a young 20-something who travels to the coast of Brittany to meet up with a girl he met just a few months ago and has fallen totally in love with, or mostly totally in love with, or perhaps just with the idea of being in love with her. Gaspard is tall, has a mess of dark curls and his body moves like a flat, pasty surfboard with legs. He's so awkward that he is charming and, as it turns out, quite handsome. For the first 10 minutes or so of the film, viewers get to know Gaspard without him uttering a word, his gait and wandering speak volumes. As the days pass, he meets two other beautiful, young women he also loves with the same fluidity as the girl he's originally come to meet. Gaspard is angst-ridden as his heart ping-pongs from girl to girl to girl at the drop of a hat. However, the moments he spends with each girl are true for him and the girls. The clarity that Gaspard lacks, the young women have no trouble achieving, so A Summer's Tale is a little bittersweet and very honest.
A Tale of Winter is about a young hairdresser, Felicie, played by Charlotte Very, who falls deeply, truly and quickly in love, and then, through a momentary slip gives her lover the wrong address and they misplace one another. Fast forward five years and Felicie is in the midst of Parisian winter, vacillating between two lovers, and trying to make the best choices for her and her young daughter. Felicie is an amazingly complex character who wears her heart on her sleeve and is capable of so much love that she can imagine her life with either lover at one point or another. However, Felicie, realizes that while there are many types of love, and one can choose loves and relationships that fit well, this doesn't mean that these are great loves or true loves. She has a sense of hope and an unyielding belief in Love (with a capital "L"). It is because of this belief that she takes great risks without fear. A Tale of Winter is compelling and unapologetic, sometimes it is better to not settle for less.
In the Four Seasons body of work, Eric Rohmer equips his characters with resiliency and a voice that communicates to viewers the intricacies of searching for love, and the need for courage to give into love. The four movies present different phases of love and growing up, of taking risks and responsibility. In the end, Rohmer's legacy is that love is, indeed, enough.
Both films show at Beartooth on Monday, March 23. A Tale of Winter begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by A Summer's Tale at 8 p.m.