Such a tragic destiny for the lead actor.

I suppose that the actual reason why there is virtually no comment whatsoever on this little gem of a movie is the poor distribution (or lack thereof) of Rohmer's "Comédies et Proverbes" movie cycle. People who have liked more popular titles from that series, like "Pauline à la Plage" and "Le rayon vert" (The Green Ray") may have found difficult obtaining this title if they hadn't bought the boxset. For myself, I became such a passionate fan of his films that I decided to purchase an "all-region" DVD player so that I could play the region 2 boxset of "Comédies et Proverbes" that is easily found on Amazon or eBay (-and of course other semi-obscure European films that should deserve better distribution in North America such as works from Fassbinder, Deville or even Chabrol). A well-invested 150$ I must say.

Philippe Marlaud - an almost predestined name in a Big Sleep way of thinking, right? -, who plays the main character of François, died just 5 months after the movie was released in France from an accidental fire that burnt his tent while he was on a camping excursion, just after his 22nd anniversary. This movie thus constitutes his legacy to a world he was just beginning to discover. I was curious about this actor since for obvious reasons, his face was unknown to me despite the fact that he had such a major role so early in his career. Rohmer had a good instinct for his actors, with whom he often developed long and solid bonds ( e.g Fabrice Luchini, Arielle Dombasle, etc.). He has "discovered" and given a good first chance to actors to star in his little brilliant movies, actors who have since then honored this opportunity by enjoying a brilliant career on their own. Luchini is of course one that comes to mind, but more recently, Melvil Poupaud, who astonished the world in 2012 in Laurence Anyways, had obtained a lead role in Rohmer's "Conte d'été" (1996) when he was only 23.

A common characteristics of Rohmer's movies is their lack of artificial trickery and the markedly naturalistic character of the acting, the mise en scène and the plot. This is in fact what confers the absolutely unique characteristics that identify a Rohmer's movie almost immediately when one watches one of his films inadvertently (if such a thing would actually happen! 😗. Thus, we are almost led to embrace what is presented on the screen as an actual documentary of life featuring real people: Rohmer literally engulfs us into his quirky, tongue-in-cheek stories as though they are real. This is the dream of most directors, but very few have accomplished this as effectively as Eric Rohmer, and with usually ridiculously low budgets for that matter.

I'm sure Philippe Marlaud was not the poor, self-absorbed and affectively dependent sod he shows to us with François' character and yet, we are literally convinced that François is an actual person like most, if not all the other characters in this extremely enticing film. Unfortunately, we will never know for sure in Marlaud's case. Nevertheless, based on the performances we usually get from Rohmer's actors in all his movies, the answer is likely to be that the actors have these visions of an actual person within themselves, which they manage to externalize in an effective way because the style of direction adopted by Rohmer, a very astonishing human being himself, allows them to do so oh so well...

It always frustrates me to find out that Rohmer's movies remain so poorly known, as I think he was a genius as a movie director and writer. His opus certainly deserves a MUCH better fate than the one he currently enjoys thanks to a limited, almost secret group of admirers. I personally think that he should have won the 1969 Oscar for "Ma nuit chez Maude" for which it was nominated in 2 categories (Best Foreign Feature and Best Original Screenplay -by himself actually). The one missed opportunity of a lifetime for a strongly individualistic author such as Eric Rohmer. Had things gone differently, I'm sure the IMdB forums on Eric Rohmer's movies would not be the desolate places they still are in 2016. Oh well. Vox populi, vox Dei, as they say...


- But you can't have her again as costume designer, Mr. Hitchcock!
- Really, Peggy? Give me Head!