Delphine is lovelorn. She wants a romantic relationship, but finds it hard to socialise or adhere to the conventions of dating. During the summer, she has nobody to vacation with but doesn't like travelling by herself. Is she destined to be alone ?
This lovely, thought-provoking little film, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1986, is typical of Rohmer's gentle but insightful drama. Delphine has an age-old problem; she's mature enough to be looking for something more meaningful than sex and partying, but young enough to be self-centred and dismissive of social expectations. When her friends encourage her to loosen up and flirt they just don't get that she wouldn't want to be with anyone she might meet using that strategy. Her frustration is beautifully played by Riviere, and is frequently uncomfortable to watch as she struggles to reconcile her longing with her prickliness and self-doubt. The film is full of richly observed little vignettes, like the dinner-table discussion of vegetarianism, or the central metaphor of the green flash (which is a real meteorological phenomena, as well as an 1886 novel by Jules Verne), and the locations in the Normandy port of Cherbourg and Basque seaside town of Biarritz are terrific. If you are unfamiliar with this gifted and prolific director's work (he made about thirty movies over forty years) this is a good introduction to his unpretentious but absorbing low-key dramas, as is his 1971 classic Le Genou De Claire. I don't think I've ever come across a filmmaker as honest as he is. This was the fifth in his series of six Comédies Et Proverbes works, coming between Les Nuits De La Pleine Lune and L'Ami De Mon Amie. English title - The Green Ray.
This lovely, thought-provoking little film, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1986, is typical of Rohmer's gentle but insightful drama. Delphine has an age-old problem; she's mature enough to be looking for something more meaningful than sex and partying, but young enough to be self-centred and dismissive of social expectations. When her friends encourage her to loosen up and flirt they just don't get that she wouldn't want to be with anyone she might meet using that strategy. Her frustration is beautifully played by Riviere, and is frequently uncomfortable to watch as she struggles to reconcile her longing with her prickliness and self-doubt. The film is full of richly observed little vignettes, like the dinner-table discussion of vegetarianism, or the central metaphor of the green flash (which is a real meteorological phenomena, as well as an 1886 novel by Jules Verne), and the locations in the Normandy port of Cherbourg and Basque seaside town of Biarritz are terrific. If you are unfamiliar with this gifted and prolific director's work (he made about thirty movies over forty years) this is a good introduction to his unpretentious but absorbing low-key dramas, as is his 1971 classic Le Genou De Claire. I don't think I've ever come across a filmmaker as honest as he is. This was the fifth in his series of six Comédies Et Proverbes works, coming between Les Nuits De La Pleine Lune and L'Ami De Mon Amie. English title - The Green Ray.