Tale Of Springtime

...is the title of the next movie in my little mini-Rohmer revivival. And I'm thinking about how yes, people who don't like "pretentious" French films wouldn't like it. In some ways it exemplfies what I think they think they're all about.

But I'm also thinking about how the small scale of Rohmer's plots is what makes them compelling. The big action scenes take place inside someone's soul (can you tell I've been watching a French movie or what?).

I also want to talk about something that neither Ebert or I have mentioned about the women in Rohmer's films. Yes, they're beautiful, but they're beautiful as if they were a real person. No Helena Bonham-Carters, no Kelly Prestons, no Diane Lanes.

Now, I don't have anything against those women (more's the pity). But when was the last time you saw a woman on the street who looked anything like they look in most of their movies? Tale Of Springtime features, among others, a young woman named Florence Darel.




In one scene, she simply sits down at a piano and plays...and it's really quite moving.