Rohmer’s Romance
Eric Rohmer has a stranglehold on me. The French creative multi-hyphenate and filmmaker has, as they say, je ne sais quoi. Criterion recently added his Tales of the Four Seasons and I’ve been dissecting these films like a neurosurgeon. I decided I can no longer let the images in front of me sit still. I have to—by some grace of the literary Gods—muster up the ability to explain Rohmer’s vortex.
Tales of the Four Seasons is a unique series in that it leaves the watcher with a sense of what a Rohmer movie is. It’s dialogue-heavy, not necessarily intellectual, though that element exists in his vortex as well. The writing is on a tandem bike with the wardrobe, acting, and scenery. All of these elements seem to float together like a cloud catching your attention on a summer day. I’d argue that Rohmer films resemble that cloud catching your eye, as you try to make sense of what it looks like.
In this series, his female leads seem to be undertaking a journey into the unpredictable. They are imperfect, at times even destructive. But I believe this is merely a veil distorting the watcher's digestion of the film. In the end, there is a resolution, of course, which brings back our faith in his seemingly conflicted actresses.
The opposite sex is depicted as equally ambivalent. Take the character of Gaspard in A Summer’s Tale who is on holiday in Dinard. He meets his girlfriend who is having doubts about their relationship, then he meets a local who is in love with him, then she introduces him to a girl he briefly falls in love with. In short, aimlessness is happening on both sides. No character in a Rohmer movie quite outweighs the other.
If there’s one thing Rohmer’s characters are sure of, it’s their sense of style. There is a discerning look throughout Tales of the Four Seasons. Both men and women are wearing jeans, really, really good jeans. Often in a light wash or white, they are high wasted and serve as the entree of each look. Characters will tuck their shirts into them, accentuating their fit and design. Button-up shirts are common, knitwear, blazers, watches, and subtle pops of color that will often match the exterior. This sense of style across his films is perhaps the biggest reason I keep coming back. It’s affected me so much that I’ve found myself resorting back to Criterion to see what I should be wearing.
When it comes to locations and interior spaces, Rohmer is truly a God. Whether it’s a French countryside, beach town, or Paris, each location can no longer be found on a map, as its transcended reality and become a part of his vortex. He has an uncanny way of making a place a painting. Each frame is purposeful, and he knows that the scenery will amplify the character's style, speech, and story. A Rohmer movie will transport you from wherever it is you watch from, and it will place you on the beach in A Summer’s Tale or the countryside in A Tale of Springtime. It’s no surprise that these characters with such prolific outfits have well-designed homes, filled with books and art and understated furnishings.
With all of these elements of a Rohmer movie in mind, there is perhaps only one word that exemplifies the entire thing: Romance. It is love in the simplest sense, a dreamworld that you want to keep coming back to.