Eric Rohmer's sixth tale of "morality" in 1972 was Chloe in the Afternoon. While I haven't seen the other five, this installment had me from start to finish. Rohmer's work here, as well as the work done by the actors like Bernard Verley as the central character Frederic, his wife Francoise Verley as Helene, and Zouzou as the title character, doesn't amount to a masterpiece. It's questionable if someone will finish watching this and think of it was one of the great films from the 70's. But having said that, this film builds with a real vision by Rohmer into what he wants to say. The audience can tell within some time after the film starts that this isn't going to be one of those by-the-numbers tales of infidelity. There really is a consistency to what he and his actors are doing in the story.
Frederic runs a Paris office and has Helen, his wife, with one child and another on the way. His narration conveys that there is a abscond he wants to seek, though he doesn't know how (most nights he falls asleep reading a book). Then enter Chloe, an old friend returning to France after years out of the country without a word. A friendship is re-kindled, however there could be something more to what it means as the film rolls along.
Perhaps there was something I was expecting from Chloe in the Afternoon that Rohmer wasn't delivering, which is my only beef with the picture. He has a definite knack for laying on the subtleties of his characters (that is more like half him and half the actors portraying the emotions) that are expected in day-to-day lives among old friends, co-workers, and spouses, and the good qualities of the film hold up till the end. Yet I kept on feeling there was something almost deceptive about how the film progressed. I praise Rohmer for making the story choices he made, and all the same an expectedess, though I wonder if it will become richer and deeper as I get older, as I bring more to the work and understand where Rohmer's coming from in his "Moral" tale. It's a great work that I'll have to watch again (and hopefully again), if only to see if I gave an under-estimated view of the development of Frederic, Helene, and Chloe. Certainly more than a mild blip on the post-french new-wave radar though.
Frederic runs a Paris office and has Helen, his wife, with one child and another on the way. His narration conveys that there is a abscond he wants to seek, though he doesn't know how (most nights he falls asleep reading a book). Then enter Chloe, an old friend returning to France after years out of the country without a word. A friendship is re-kindled, however there could be something more to what it means as the film rolls along.
Perhaps there was something I was expecting from Chloe in the Afternoon that Rohmer wasn't delivering, which is my only beef with the picture. He has a definite knack for laying on the subtleties of his characters (that is more like half him and half the actors portraying the emotions) that are expected in day-to-day lives among old friends, co-workers, and spouses, and the good qualities of the film hold up till the end. Yet I kept on feeling there was something almost deceptive about how the film progressed. I praise Rohmer for making the story choices he made, and all the same an expectedess, though I wonder if it will become richer and deeper as I get older, as I bring more to the work and understand where Rohmer's coming from in his "Moral" tale. It's a great work that I'll have to watch again (and hopefully again), if only to see if I gave an under-estimated view of the development of Frederic, Helene, and Chloe. Certainly more than a mild blip on the post-french new-wave radar though.