Suzanne's Career

Suzanne's Career is a really interesting moral story from Rohmer but it fails to amuse me, there is a lot to like but it's badly paced movie. There are some interesting ideas but they aren't utilized unlike in his other movies...

This film by Eric Rohmer shows that the style for which he has become famous was developed at an early stage - a concentration on the relationships between young people performed by unknown actors in an almost documentary style. As usual with Rohmer the performances of the actors are variable and not much happens in terms of plot. Instead the film concentrates on the emotional development of its young subjects, with the central character a little wiser by the end. The scenes on central Paris in the early sixties mean that part of the film's appeal is as an historical document in the same way as Chabrol's "Les Bonnes Femmes" and Varda's "Cleo De 5 a 7".

In Suzanne's Career, the 54-minute second film of Rohmer's group of Six Moral Tales, two friends, both students at a local university, vie for the affections of Suzanne (Catherine See). Guillame (Christian Charriere) is the more aggressive and the most manipulative but Bertrand (Phillipe Beuzen) goes along with his schemes and his character is not beyond blemish. Both scheme to have Suzanne pay for their good times and ignore her at parties to make her jealous while telling each other how they detest her.

There is a great deal of narration in the film and we are privy to Bertrand's thoughts and feelings as he sorts out for himself what is right and what is wrong. Suzanne is sweet but seemingly rather passive and easily exploited and we root for her to assert herself, and in typical Rohmer style we don't have to wait very long. This is a lovely film and, though it goes on a bit too long in pursuing its resolution, the ending is deliciously satisfying.

Suzanne's Career, the second of Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales," is an intriguing little drama encircling the lives of three students: Bertrand, our slightly naïve narrator, Guillaume, a chauvinistic leech, and Suzanne, an easily manipulated, clingy girl whom they take advantage of. In comparison to The Girl at the Monceau Bakery (the first moral tale), Suzanne's Career is significantly darker, better acted, but somehow less effective. There's more meat here, but something gets lost in translation. It is still a good film, but it drags in places and sometimes becomes a little monotonous. If a viewer can get past that, though, the last fifteen minutes of the film is easily the best part of the entire movie.

At the beginning, we see Bertrand and Guillaume, two young college boys, having a conversation with Suzanne, a girl whom they've just met. Guillaume decides early on to use the girl, manipulate her emotions, exploit her in any way he can. And he does so effectively, for awhile. Guillaume flirts with other girls in Suzanne's presence, talks down to her, lives off of her money completely regretless. Throughout the whole thing, Bertrand stands by. He is torn between whether or not to go against his friend, who he looks up to, or to join him and manipulate the girl in order to benefit himself.

This is a fairly good film. It is longer than the first moral tale, but not quite feature length. The moral dilemma here, concerning fair and right treatment of women, is very interesting to watch unfold. It takes a little too long to get to where it's going, though. The middle drags on for longer than it needed to. There is no question that the two male characters are absolute pigs, but watching them act on their chauvinism gets a little old after awhile. However, good narration, an excellent plot, and a good statement about how people should be treated salvage this moral tale. Suzanne's Career is definitely worth the hour.

7/10

This is the second of the moral tales, but it's the last one I had left to see. I probably would have liked it better if I had seen it earlier as it covers a lot of the same areas as the later films but it's naturally less polished. It's clearly a very low budget film and the visuals are among Rohmer's most nondescript. Also, despite it's brevity it drags a bit in places. Still, in spite of these flaws it's a worthwhile addition to the Rohmer canon.

The film itself is about two male college students. Guillame is the leader here. He is also a real jerk, similar to the stereotypical frat boy today. This is the type of person who comes from a privileged background but is still quite ignorant in spite of his advantages. Since he is clearly lacking intelligence but seems affable enough, this type of guy gets treated well by people who don't realize that he has just enough cunning to take advantage of their kindness and screw them over. So naturally he uses and abuses everyone around him. This includes his pathetic, spineless sidekick, Bertrand, and their mutual love interest/dumping ground Suzanne. The film is narrated by Bertrand who is something of a non-entity.

Suzanne is a decent looking girl with a steady job but she doesn't have enough money to attend college full time. Because she is not beautiful and also because of the aforementioned lack of funds she allows herself to be used by Bertrand and Guillame. It's clear she cares more about them than they do about her and she ends up wasting her hard earned money on the boys.

The twist here is that eventually Suzanne gets tired of the boys and moves on to better things while they stay the same. Despite coming from a lower social standing she ends equal to them and thus exposes their aimless apathy. Of course, Suzanne is not perfect either. The film's title suggests that her goals from the beginning might have been different than they seemed.