Autumn Tale

This one filled me with so much joy, a fellow viewer asked me to stay still on my chair. Last time I felt like it, I was watching Rear window. Beside, you get to see France grape farm in fall and 45 year old actress who played in other Rohmer flicks as teens and young adults. Just as long-lost friends who are going through same life cycle as I, the viewer. Probably the last of elderly Rohmer flick. Last scene during end-titles feels like a farewell to his public. I'll miss your flicks Eric. Thanks for everything.

"Autumn Tale" is a friendly, rambling french film. Beautiful visuals. And, as always, the french have a realistic, sanguine approach to female and male beauty, where the women of the film are not hollywood-ized, but their natural beauty is enhanced by the french countryside's autumanl splendor. One middle aged woman plays matchmaker for her friend, but does not tell her she's placed an ad in the personals. Someone else plays matchmaker, and then threads of story lines appear and vanish like possible lovers come and gone. Rhomer is not a natural storyteller, but this film is not terribly amibitious or weighty, but a golden, good-natured romp through french womens' psychees and sweet taut clothing. The female leads are compelling and edible, again, because the french love to present beauty through the lens of reality and possibilty. Tasteful lust. Realistic. Wild, dionescian hair on the earthmother, tilted uterus'd owner of the winery. Tres elegante is her friend living a bit vicariously through her man-hunt. Fun film but don't expect a great story here. But, oooo la la, what curves and sex have the women of middle-aged france.

I wish I understood French better---I feel that this must have been a masterpiece of comfortable, unforced dialogue. Even the English subtitles left me feeling that these were real people having real conversations. OPne thing that usually turns me off in a film is the sense that a conversation is a forced device of exposition---like Deborah Kerr's soliloquies. Everyone pulled this off very well. They just chatted comfortably through the film, and the audience caught enough of it to follow the story. And a decent enough story it was, with the delights and disappointments very well played through body language.

For this, the last of his Tales of the Four Seasons, Eric Rohmer chose the somewhat pastoral setting of a vineyard in French wine country. It's the story of a middle aged winemaker who wants to find a man but isn't willing to look for one; essentially she hopes to encounter the perfect man by chance but she severely limits the likelihood of a meeting because she rarely ventures away from her work/home. Her two friends (who always visit her, never vice versa) each try to set her up with a man. Her older friend attempts to deceive her into thinking the man she has picked is a chance encounter while her younger friend, who happens also be dating her son, makes her intentions clear.

Essentially what Rohmer is saying with this film is that passively expecting things to happen without working for them in any way is foolish. Faith is a key theme in Rohmer's work and this might be taken as a sort of critique of blind faith. When the winemaker is thrust into these romantic entanglements she reacts like a petulant child instead of a mature adult. The logical plans of her wordly friends are a sharp contrast to her own naivety. Still, this isn't some cold rejection of her character; in spite of her flaws the winemaker still has some admirable traits and things work out well for her. This is the difference between Rohmer and certain other directors who attempt to analyze human nature: he never lets his ideas overcome the realistic boundaries of human behavior and thus avoids the all too common pitfalls of misanthropy and didacticism.

Like almost every Rohmer film I've seen, An Autumn's Tale expresses some truths about human nature with a captivating realism. However, this film didn't really speak to me the way some of his films do because I ultimately don't have much in common with the winemaker. It's still well worth watching, especially for people who have more in common with the central character.

This was a little film with a simple plot and likable characters. In fact, Hollywood would learn a lot from films like this. It's not the dynamic plot, special effects or big name stars that often make a film exceptional, it's the writing and the acting! And this movie is written so lovingly and acted so honestly that I couldn't help but like it. This, despite the notable absence of the sensational elements in the movie, made for a wonderful film. Think about it--the basic plot is an older woman who owns her own small winery is lonely. So, her friend tries to find a man for her and so does her grown child. Talk about your simple plot! And yet it works! So if you are in the mood for something different, give this movie a try.