The Eric Rohmer Collection Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Primitive, in a good way.

There's some nostalgic pleasure to be had from both of these two short, simple films. The Paris of around 1960-62, the cars, clothes, shops and cafes, the poor, student interiors, the general early sixties atmosphere. The crude, monochrome film quality only adds to this atmos.

Interesting too to see such early manifestations of Rohmer's interests too, chiefly in women. Women emerge as more interesting, intelligent and morally superior to men here, which is there in his later work with far more development and complexity. The male lead in 'La Boulangere' is somewhat on the shallow side, predatory and selfish. He sees the woman who works in the boulanger's shop as not good enough for him, but a possible easy conquest to fill in the time while he stalks his main prey interest, a more beautiful woman who lives near the boulanger's (although he doesn't know where she lives at the time, or that she's been watching him). The baker's assistant isn't as easy or as dim as he thinks, however, and he ends up looking shabby and small compared to her.

The second film similarly contains a crude, selfish male, his friend who isn't quite so bad, and a complex, far more interesting woman who is chased by them both. There's an emotional play between the three, she's with one and then the other. I did get a bit lost in parts here, but that's probably my simplistic male brain not keeping up.

The acting is a bit primitive, amateurish even in parts, but this comes across to me as charming rather than anything bad, and in keeping with the simplicity of the film making. They look like accomplished student films, made on a budget of about fifty francs in real-world settings. The skill is in interactions between the characters, predictive of Rohmer's later work.

Well worth watching if you're interested in Rohmer, one of the most intelligent and emotionally aware film makers ever in my opinion. Or even if you're just interested in the period.