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Claire's Knee
1970
In Eric Rohmer's CLAIRE'S KNEE, Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy), a handsome diplomat on vacation in the scenic Alpine village of Talloires, is coaxed into doing a strange favor for his friend Aurora (Aurora Cornu), a novelist working on a new book. Echoing Vladimir Nabokov's novel LOLITA, in which the writer Humbert Humbert falls .. Read more
| Starring | Jean-Claude Brialy, Aurora Cornu, Beatrice Romand, Laurence De Monaghan |
|---|---|
| Director | Eric Rohmer |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Claire's Knee
In Eric Rohmer's CLAIRE'S KNEE, Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy), a handsome diplomat on vacation in the scenic Alpine village of Talloires, is coaxed into doing a strange favor for his friend Aurora (Aurora Cornu), a novelist working on a new book. Echoing Vladimir Nabokov's novel LOLITA, in which the writer Humbert Humbert falls in love with a budding 13-year-old girl, CLAIRE'S KNEE makes Jerome the researcher for Aurora's novel about an older man who seduces a teenage girl. Jerome and Aurora create mischief together as two friends in their mid-30s who are reminded of their own sexual appetites by watching the teenage sisters Laura (Beatrice Romand) and Claire (Laurence De Monoghan) with their young boyfriends. However, when Aurora challenges Jerome to seduce Laura, he tries but fails. Instead, he develops an obsessive desire to fondle Claire's knee, a notion both ruthlessly perverse and stubbornly innocent. Rohmer's laid-back, pensive style takes in the mountainous lakeside scenery, putting the weight of the film on intimate one-on-one discussions between the characters. With artful camerawork that captures much of the movie from Jerome's motorboat, Rohmer creates one of the cornerstones of his Six Moral Tales series, a pretty film with a naughty undercurrent and a relaxed existential overtone.
| Starring | Jean-Claude Brialy, Aurora Cornu, Beatrice Romand, Laurence De Monaghan, Michele Montel |
|---|---|
| Director | Eric Rohmer |
| Studio | OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 41 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: not available Production year: 1970 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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The fifth of Eric Rohmer's “Six Moral Tales”, this is a hypnotic study of temptation, sumptuously shot by Nestor Almendros in the shimmering Annecy sunshine. Although events unfold from the viewpoint of diplomat Jean-Claude Brialy, the attention, as so often in Rohmer's films, is focused firmly on the emotions of young women, in this case, of the sisters (Laurence De Monaghan and Béatrice Romand) he has been encouraged to flirt with in a bid to experience passion before his forthcoming wedding. Typically, Rohmer allows the action to revolve around his characters' conversations, which are endlessly entertaining and provocative.
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The fifth and most accessible of Rohmer's six 'moral tales', Claire's Knee is the story of the temptation of an... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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12 out of 12 people found this review helpful
Not his best
I am big fan of Rhomer but this is not quite to my taste. Although his traits as a director are all over this film, the main characters are not as likeable as he may of intended. If you haven't seen them already I recommend you skip this and see Conte d'automne(An Autumn's Tale) or L'Anglaise et le duc(The Lady and the Duke).
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Most recent members' review
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5 out of 7 people found this review helpful
So much talk
This looks good even after more than 30 years; the setting is most attractive and so are the principals in the main. It isn't a bad story about a grown man's infatuation with, well, Claire's knee and he engineers the opportunity to stroke it at great length. However there is just so much talk to explain the whys and wherefores of what happens (not a lot) in the film that it is just a bit tiring.
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Claire's Knee
In Eric Rohmer's CLAIRE'S KNEE, Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy), a handsome diplomat on vacation in the scenic Alpine village of Talloires, is coaxed into doing a strange favor for his friend Aurora (Aurora Cornu), a novelist working on a new book. Echoing Vladimir Nabokov's novel LOLITA, in which the ...
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