colinbellUK I already liked this film a lot having owned it on DVD as part of a great value Rohmer box set. However when the opportunity came up to see it at the cinema today I couldn't pass it up. This film and others by the same director have influenced other films which I like a lot (e.g. Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset) in that there is little action but lots of conversation, some interesting, some banal. I identified strongly with the quiet introvert lead character Delphine, who was misunderstood by her friends and given all sorts of advice on finding a partner which wouldn't be suitable for her at all. The performance by Marie Riviere was wonderful and she contributed to the dialogue too (she has a credit shared). Lots of times she had subtle facial expressions going on which spoke volumes and it made me wish I spoke French as when I kept looking to the subtitles I knew in the time I was reading them I was missing some of those. Even the silences (or just bouts of tears) spoke volumes. I won't reveal too much of the plot except to say it has a hopeful feeling towards the end and the whole thing appealed very much to the romantic in me.

kenjha A single woman in Paris looks to salvage her summer vacation after her original plans are disrupted. Is she shy or depressed or just picky when it comes to men? The answer is not necessarily revealed but it is a pleasant journey as we get to know her and accompany her on scenic excursions in France. Riviere, who co-wrote the script with Rohmer, is quite good as the woman whose boyfriend seems to have left her and who feels like her life is falling apart, but is also unsure what she wants out of life. She is not a particularly sympathetic character but she does seem real. Instead of revealing any big truths, Rohmer is mostly interested in the little things that reveal character.

writers_reign As a movie buff weaned on the Hollywood classics of the thirties and forties via endless reruns on TV I absorbed by osmosis the 'classic' style of film-making - Master Shot, Long Shot, Medium Shot, Close Shot, 2-Shot, Reverse Angle etc - without being able to put a name to them and this is perhaps why I find Rohmer 'amateur' in terms of Style. I have reached the conclusion that 1) he doesn't 'know' how to make fluid films, 2) he does know but has only contempt for this kind of 'professionalism' or 3) can't afford multiple set-ups for each scene and so settles for the 'boring' option.This particular movie - given away with a British newspaper - begins with a long shot in which two girls are talking in an office. A third girl enters the scene and has a telephone conversation. Rohmer shoots the WHOLE thing in what would be, in the Real film-making world, a Master Shot with a static camera. Time and time again we get something similar, not necessarily a Long Shot, sometimes he even gives us a Close Shot that lasts interminably. I'm guessing that his shooting ratio is one of the shortest of any director, about one-to-one, two-to-one at the outside. Filming like this means, of course, that you'd better have something really riveting to say or you're going to alienate anyone who has access to TV reruns and/or a video/DVD player. Arguably viewers born some ten or twenty years after Rohmer helped establish the short-live New Wavelet will accept these crude methods never having known Style but the rest of us are obliged to look at Content and all too often come up empty. This entry benefits from a fine central performance but that's about it.

LeRoyMarko Somehow depressing movie about Delphine's emotions. Pure Rohmer in how the movie deals with sentiments. Nothing is really happening here, but at the same time, a lot is at work. Characters discover what's inside them, what governs their feelings. Not the best Rohmer, but still interesting. Marie Rivière is very good as Delphine.Out of 100, I gave it 74. That's good for **½ out of ****.Seen at home, in Toronto, on February 8th, 2004.