Can’t wait!
I hope they’re showing “TheTree the Mayor and the Mediatheque”
today’s the first day. You don’t have to wait. My Night at Maud’s is playing tonight at 9:15
I wasn’t too fond of THE TREE, THE MAYOR, AND THE MEDIATHEQUE…caught it when it played in Cleveland recently and it’s by far my least favorite of the Rohmer films I’ve seen (which admittedly only number, like, six). Amusing narrative framing device — story developments are more or less prefigured with written conditional statements (“If the little girl hadn’t picked up the little boy’s ball…”), playfully suggesting the ways in which minute events interact and influence greater ones. But ultimately I found the characters to be annoying, which is damning to a Rohmer film, and if Rohmer was genuinely interested in exploring the city-versus-country-living question (as the program notes suggested) and wasn’t just using that as a Macguffin of sorts, his insights weren’t interesting in the least.
But I digress.
I popped in to ask if this series would be touring the country as these things often do.
Don’t know if they were the same prints but the Six Moral Tales played over two nights at a theatre near me (Santa Monica, CA) about a month ago. So I would guess his films are making the rounds.
Good to know. Thank you.
Not that a quick search might not possibly assuage my pangs for knowledge…but I enjoy being in the dark.
Jeff Garland from Curb Your Enthusiasm was at the screening of Pauline at the Beach earlier this evening. Weird.
I’m looking forward to the U.S. premiere of Catherine de Heilbronn this Friday, and am even skipping a trip to visit my friends in D.C. in order to watch it, fully descending into loser totality. Hopefully it’s worth it.
YESSSSSSS SO EXCITED! thanks for posting. there’s a Q&A with editor for La Collectioneuse on the 27th! here’s the list on their site of all the Rohmer showtimes: http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/ericrohmer.html
this is wonderful news
I saw My Night at Maud’s last night, and that was the first time I had seen a Rohmer film. I did enjoy it and would like to know what else I should see. I am clearly not going to be able to make it to every single screening but do plan on checking out all the moral tales. What else do Rohmer experts recommend if one has to pick and choose?
Don’t miss “Cl;aire’s Knee,” “Pauline at the Beach” and "Summer (aka. “Le Rayon Vert”)
“The Marquise of O” is good too, and if they’re showing “Triple Agent” DON’T MISS IT!!!! It’s his last masterpeice and a real departure for him as it’s a spy thriller. In fact it’s precisely the sort of spy thriller Hitchcock was trying for towards the end of his career, and fialing to put together successfully.
“The most complete North American retrospective of Rohmer’s work in more than a decade, including all of his feature films and the U.S. premiere of his 1980 TV film Catherine de Heilbronn. Plus special in-person appearances by key Rohmer collaborators.”
Sounds excellent.
WOW!
Pascale Ogier is in Catherine de Heilbron.
David, why do you like Triple Agent so much? Most reviews i read and general reaction were quite lukewarm, so i was relieved it was no dud. Anyway, i certainly second The Green Ray and Claire’s Knee, and My Night with Maud and My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend are my other favourites. I’ve not seen the Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque but he hardly ever disappoints
Roger: Jeff Garlin lives right around there 68/70s. I see him at the Barnes and Nobel alot with his 2 kids browsing criterions ;)
“Triple Agent” is galaxies away from what wouldexpect of a Rohmer film. To begin with it’s overtly political and deals with a specific historical incident. The characters are based on real people and the story actually happened. Rohmer’s touch is of course gentle, particularly with the wife of the protagonist — a very nice woman who in no way shape or form deserves the fate thrust opn her by her reckless husband. It’s a point made evn sharper by her paintings — naive everyday scenes of common charm.
Herhusband. meanwhile is up to no good seven ways from Sunday by playing the Nazis, the Soviets and the U.S. and its allies all at the same time. The ending is particularly devestating as two minor characters explain what hepenned. Quite a shock coming from the master of small scale affairs of the heart and mind.
Yeah, I have to watch Triple Agent again. I’ve only seen it once and I wasn’t entirely in favour of it to be honest, but one could easily tell that there was a master at work behind-the-scenes. There was the typical Rohmer restraint and bare minimalism with that obsessive focus on the mundane (and the non-mundane, but, as Ehrenstein already said, the charm of mundane things seem to interest him more). It is certainly (narratively-speaking) unlike any other Rohmer film, but the same approach is there and there are a lot of little stylistic things Rohmer likes to “say in passing.”
Anyway, yes, I need to see it again with a fresher outlook and I think I’ll enjoy it more the second time around.
Rohmer wasn’t frightened of risks and springing surprises just when audiences thought they knew what to expect- not many would have portrayed the French Revolution from the point of view of the aristocracy, and using cgi tastefully on such a period piece when best known for young modern relationships and quite a consistent style. Astree and Celadon is very unusual too, like Perceval.
I’m still hoping to find someone else here who’s seen the green ray/flash for real
I’m with David on Triple Agent, but I do have an exceptional fondness for all of Rohmer’s “period” pieces like Astrea and Celadon, The Lady and the Duke and Perceval. Part of that is that his other films constitute his norm in a way, and these films being outliers take on extra force in part because of the contrast between his different styles. I’m not sure how I would have viewed them if I had come to them first instead of after films like Pauline, Maude, Claire and others. I’m sure I would have still appreciated them on some level, perhaps just not as much as I did with this extra larger career context.
so whats left of this festival?
Everything? Triple Agent is great, btw.
This topic is already a month old, but there’s a great article covering the Lincoln Center retro (“My Love Affair with Eric Rohmer”) at Hydra Magazine. Rohmer lives on!
Rossi
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