Delphine's search for a suitable summer vacation leaves one wanting to wring her neck by the end of the movie, but so much of the story rings true that it's easy to sympathize with her plight. This one's perhaps not as talky as some of Rohmer's other films, but somehow the viewer is drawn into Delphine's travels around France and into hoping she lands in a place which will satisfy her.
shareThe thing with the character of Delphine is that she doesn't even know what she wants, so how do you please her or how does as you put it " lands in a place which will satisfy her"? Then when she was in Cherbourg she seemed to dislike everything. I don't eat meat, boats make me sick, i don't pick flowers and so-on!!
This was my first Eric Rohmer film (got an 8dvd boxset of his films) pretty good film though.
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On the contrary, she knows exactly what she wants. And she knows she is not finding it. She feels lonely and dejected and does all that crying, and it IS frustrating to watch her turn down offer after offer for good times. But if you're paying attention at the end she explains herself in that scene with the last man she meets. She tells him she feels compelled to reject the easy but false good times as she waits for something that will be more personally satisfying to her, and that in spite of her frustration she feels there is a kind of moral purity in doing this. And this confession is evidently charming to the man, who asks her to spend the weekend with him in spite of the character quirks that others have termed "different" and "strange". Maybe Rohmer is saying "Here is someone who was true to herself and adhered to some kind of moral code though it was not easy for her, and she gets something in return in the end."
This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Rohmer has this ability of showing us the surface of things but letting us see into their depths. It's kind of amazing.
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You are right that whereas others might sacrifice some of their own integrity for short term intimacy, Delphine resists falling into this trap, which makes her truly unique amongst the countless tragic and disgraced whores of European cinema. Whether this resistance is because of some understood principle or simply because she fears the intense loneliness that follows each encounter is a matter of interpretation. I tend to think it's the latter, as Delphine doesn't seem to have a strong enough grasp on her needs and emotions to live by positive principle. She seems to be a sensitive, introverted thinker who doesn't understand why she is unable to enjoy the leisures and casual relationships that others do. This makes her a lot more endearing than the high-headed purist who telegraphs her principles.
Thrusting herself into situations she is uncomfortable with, and trying to meet the standards of people who tell her how to live, she is unable to flatly reject the idle pleasures of her friends, but not strong enough to create for herself a more suitable reality. Does she know what she wants? Perhaps, but she hasn't the slightest idea how to find it, and her method becomes totally passive: searching, waiting, and looking for signs. There's also an interesting vicious circle involved. The greater the effort Delphine makes to form bonds with others, the more she becomes aware of the shallowness of those bonds. Consequently, she becomes even more lonely. This explains why the movie is cyclical and repetitive in structure, and also why a viewer might become annoyed and impatient with Delphine.
This is one of the best movies I've seen a while. There's a hint of sadness and depression that never becomes burdensome, a wonderful lightness to the dialogue, and a great understanding of the way Delphine thinks. I love that it resolutely avoids melodrama and heightened tension in favor of a leisurely, unforced observation, yet never becomes boring thanks to the frequent change of scenery and the swift pace with which it goes through the calendar.
Yup, I like Rohmer, and this is a well done film, but Delphine is insufferable. It's not a chauvenistic to say so, because even her girlfriends and family are sick to death of her self pity. She gets every opportunity to enjoy herself on her TWO MONTH french vacation, and all she can do is whine about her jean-pierre, or whatever his name is. Well, Jules Verne or not, if she doesn't get her *beep* together, I'm not sure if I believe her next relationship will be any more successful. It's interesting that I do respect a movie that irritated me, but it is good on its own terms, I just don't think I'll be watching it again.
shareI thought she was a typical Parisienne, certainly of the period depicted. Self-absorbed to the point of narcissism, she would be a living nightmare for any man unfortunate enough to wind up with her.
And I don't see that she would change, either. Her relationship broke up two years before, yet she is still not accepting that it's time for her to move on. Instead she makes life awkward by being difficult with those around her who genuinely want to help. A bona fide PITA.
The 'green flash' at the end was facile and redundant. It should have been enough to show the name of the shop, and to have left it at that.
I thought it was a very disappointing film.
She was introspective and introverted, not self absorbed.
Her friends wanted to make her normal; they wanted her to conform and be someone she wasn't. Sure, they meant well but that wouldn't make their influence any less damaging if she just went along.
I found the green ray at the end sublime.
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The Green Ray 10/10
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You must have a very good eye, to be able to split hairs like that.
10 out of 10? Really? I've seen thousands of films, but I've never given one 10. You must have quite liked it.
Have you ever seen a green flash, by the way?
I'll respond seriously anyway though.
I don't think I've split hairs at all; being shy isn't the same as being self absorbed.
If you don't use every number you aren't doing it right. About 3-4% of the films I see get 10/10.
I've seen green flashes before but it wasn't the flash itself that was sublime, it was the entire experience for the character.
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Good, because it was meant seriously. I don't think she was shy; her seeming shyness was an excuse. But that's subjective, so we'll have to agree to differ over that.
"If you don't use every number you aren't doing it right." What on earth is that supposed to mean? I tend to mark films high, but that's partly a problem with the scoring method on IMDb; quite often I watch films that I think are worth more than seven, but less than eight, and it's a problem.
And I tend not to watch films that I know I'm going to really dislike so, for instance, I think I've only ever given a one once, for something that caught me out. But ten? There's always something that will knock a point off, always. Muslim carpet weavers make the most sublime rugs and carpets, and their artists and architects turn out objects of great beauty, but there is always a deliberate mistake; only Allah is perfect.
I'm not religious, but I do understand what they're saying.
As for the green flash, when you've seen one you've seen 'em all. :)
Obviously nothing is perfect and nothing ever will be. When you give a film the highest rating you aren't saying it's perfect, just that it is among the very best ever made. As you say, even ten possible scores is too few so why limit yourself further by only using 9 of them?
Nice talk though, so many people on individual film boards like this one are rude and unwilling to consider the viewpoints of others. You should try the Film General board sometime; we tend to have a higher level of discourse there.
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Eight actually, because you can't award less than one. But I take the point.
I'm only being nice because of the 'cheeky fellow' comment. It's been many decades since I was thus addressed. :)
Thanks for the suggestion. I will have a look one day.
so true. a moment of cinematic poetry of the highest level. the most hilarious thing about this movie is if you break it down, its a movie about a woman who goes on a bunch of walks LOL and i loved it! top notch filmmaking and a sublime ending of such simplicity and brilliance. either you like rohmer and you get it or you dont. its as simple as an instictual reaction.
shareI suspect that most people don't use the rating system "properly" - by only rating movies highly. I prefer to be conservative and rarely ever give a 10, because almost every film I've seen is flawed or could be improved in some way.
Would you argue for (ideally) a normal distribution or a negative exponential distribution of ratings? I suspect that I'd have a negative exponential distribution if I randomly selected the movies I watched, but since I try to avoid *beep* as much as possible, I end up closer to a normal distribution.
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
Something like a normal distribution, but since, as you note, people tend to watch movies they expect to enjoy it should be centered around 7 with a very sharp dropoff outside the normal range, ie below 4.
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"She was introspective and introverted".
Introverted? Are you kidding me? She kept babbling on and on, mostly about herself.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Delphine has an idea of what she wants out of life but she's not willing to invest anything into it. All she does is sit around waiting for something to change and feeling sorry for herself. She stutters stupid arguments every time someone tries to help her.
On one hand she's a stupid, self-absorbed girl. On the other, most of the people around her are living quite shallow and frivolous lives themselves. I'm not sure there are any winners here, or how one picks between Delphine and the "normal" characters, or if it matters at all in the end.
I think Delphine may have potential in life if and when she ever overcomes her current state of affairs, naivety and self-imposed limitations. At least she isn't happy (happy people don't have any potential). However, there appears to be little hope for her changing, short of something big jostling her world.
I enjoyed it, but did not find it nearly as engaging or interesting as his Moral Tales (his only films I've seen prior to this one). The green flash at the end was rather lame.
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
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I saw this at the UW-Milwaukee theater last night. This being my first experience with an Eric Rohmer film, I openly admit it was often a tedious and frustrating experience. Besides being slow and talky (which was no doubt intentional) I was annoyed with the main character because she herself seemed to have no idea what she wanted out of life. Surely there has to be *something* good to do somewhere in Europe? I don't know what I'd have done, but I definitely wouldn't have wasted so much time whining about it. ;)
I know it sounds like I'm bashing the film, but I'm not. I realize it isn't really meant to be entertaining in a mainstream, conventional way. I don't think I'll be in a hurry to run out and rent another Rohmer film right away. Hell, I think even his own fans are hard-pressed to explain his appeal. ;)
Not as talky as some others? Jeez... It was my first Rohmer and I liked it for its look and the understatedness and surprisingly swift pacing considering nothing much really ever happened in the film, but there ´were´ parts where the constant jabbering started to border on grating. So the warning signs are certainly on the horizon, so to speak, if his other stuff is even more verbose. Or more lacking in any type of action, as it were.
Overall, I think I can certainly understand how Gene Hackman could equate watching Rohmer´s work with watching the paint dry. Even if I found it much livelier than that myself.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
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