Platonic relationship?

L'Amour l'apres-midi (Love in the Afternoon) 1972; French

This French language offering by master filmmaker Éric Rohmer is another one of those intelligent movies that questions love, sex and platonic relationships between man and woman. It is done in non-melodramatic and judgmental fashion.

Frédéric, a successful lawyer, with an English language lecturer wife, a daughter and another child on the way appears like a bourgeoisie who had his life all paved in front of him. 

He likes women watching and reminisce the carefree days before his marriage. He is just a fantasiser and is a basically monogamous and doting father.

One day, a female friend from his past, Chloé, an ex-girlfriend of his best friend appears in his office. She seems like an ambitionless, living for the moment, happy go lucky kind of a girl who was fun material rather than wife material. She goes in and out of jobs, disappearing and emerging like a plunging hippopotamus every now and then; sometimes happy, sometimes in dire straits needing help. He helps her to settle in a new place and new job.

Their relationship becomes stronger. He lies to his wife, sometimes to be with Chloé on some afternoons (hence the title). It was initially nothing romantic, just that he could relate some things better to her than his wife.

The carefree Chloé kept tempting him to indulge in an extramarital affair even though she was not the marrying kind. At his weak moment, Frédéric almost gave himself to temptation until he saw himself in the mirror and remembered a time horsing around with his family. He came to his senses and returned immediately to his wife to mend this relationship with his wife and family.

This movie is the sixth and final offering by Éric Rohmer on moral tales. A good show with practical issues that people in modern societies have to endure in everyday living. In a contemporary thinking society, the question of morality is blurred by the ability to justify actions and critical thinking. The community cannot impose a uniform code of living by creating the fear of God and damnation on them to toe the line.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

An egocentric narrator?

La Collectionneuse (The Collector, French;1967)
Director and Writer: Eric Rohmer
The 4th offering of the 'Moral Tales' by Eric Rohmer is again another film about love and morality involved.
Here, the protagonist who is the narrator is telling his point of view about his uppity moral values and degrading of a fellow tenant of a bungalow in a French countryside.
The story with the introduction of the three main character - Haydée  (a curvaceous body perfect 20 young lass, carefree and impulsive); Daniel (a painter who has his own high thoughts about himself); Adrien (the protagonist is introduced engaged in a tête-à-tête with his girlfriend and her girlfriend about beauty and attraction).
Adrien is a antique collector who goes to the country side for a getaway. The painter Daniel is also there. The serenity of the bungalow is somewhat disturbed by the presence of a carefree easygoing Haydée. The presence of different men to take her out every evening gives the impression to Adrien, who is narrating, that she is of loose morals. He gives the impression that he is of irresistible charm that Haydée is captivated by him and going through extents to seduce him.
This cat and mouse of a game goes on until it leads to animosity between the trio.
The contradiction of the narrator's action is seen when he actually tries to force himself on her and accuses her of teasing her.
Adrien finds a buyer for his prized china. As a bonus for the sale, Adrien actually sends Haydée to the buyer's house for companionship!
Surprisingly, Haydée just follows without any resistance. Probably, her bohemian outlook of life embraced anything that came along the way. Suddenly, Adrien felt empty in the bungalow. He returned to the buyer's house to bring her back. Along the way back, she contemplates following her fellow bohemian friends to Rome. Adrien just leaves and fly of to London.
As in all the moral stories, the conclusion and the interpretation of the contents is left hanging. For a change, the narrators viewpoint does not resonant well with the audience, probably as I did not agree with his views and demeaning judgmental assumptions of loose morals on the part of  Haydée. He appears very conceited with his appearance and assumes that she has a conniving way to seduce him and leave him high and dry!

More questions than answers

My Night at Maud's (Ma nuit chez Maud, French; 1969)
Director: Eric Rohmer

No, this is a description of mind boggling nocturnal tryst at Maud's place but rather on the intellectual discourse on life, religion, Pascal (French mathematician extraordinaire) and his mathematical equation of probability, occasional flings, guilt, original sin, grace, etcetera....
As in the other 'Moral Tales' series, (#3/6), this film does not preach or take sides on moral codes but rather discusses philosophy of life without being judgemental.
A glaring difference in Rohmer's films that I have seen so far is the absence of background music score. The only sounds coming from the movie is the dialogue and the incidental things in the story, e.g. moving of furniture or street cars honking!
After staying in Canada and Chile, Jean-Louis, an engineer with Michelin, a born again Catholic, is back in Paris. It is Christmas and he is attending a mass. He laid his eyes on a blonde and he liked what he saw. Something in him told him she is going to be his wife. He tries to catch up with her in his car, whilst she is on a bicycle but loses her in busy traffic.
Disappointed, he stops at a cafe but bumps into his schoolmate whom he had not met for 14 years. His friend, Vidal, is a professor of philosophy and an unapologetic Marxist. They talk about old times and about Pascal and his mathematical equation of probability. The scientist Pascal, in his lifetime had an enlightenment of sorts, and he did dwell into Jensenian,a sect of the Catholic church. The conversation also went into philosophy.
As Jean Louis was alone for Christmas, Vidal invited him to come to his girlfriend's house. Vidal and his girlfriend, Maud, a paediatrician and a divorcee, were having a weird relationship. They get together well but she refuses to marry. Vidal is quite happy with such an arrangement. She has a daughter of about 10.

Nocturnal tête-à-tête at Maud's with coffee

At Maud's flat, Jean Louis and Maud blend together well. Both with their fervent and steadfast belief (or disbelief) - Maud a freethinker, Jean a born again Catholic, engage in a heated but civilized rhetoric in subjects related to religion, atheism, love, morality and Pascal's life and writings on philosophy, faith and mathematics.
Maud had just gone through a rough divorce after her husband was to be cheating on her. Of course, Maud herself had a lover who also left her!
Jean Louis professes his love for the blonde girl that he met and puts forward his views on fidelity and 'the one' chosen for him. His stand is teased by a cheeky Maud to a bit carnal enjoyment but Jean stood his ground of celibacy as they continue their discussion late into the night in the comfort of a cosy bed and falling snow outside.
Vidal, Jean-Louis and Maud meet a few times after that. It looks like Maud and Jean-Louis may just fall for each other.
Then, the mysterious blonde girl, Françoise, is tracked down by chance. Jean-Louis picks up courage to talk to her. This 22 year devout Catholic is quite happy to meet his acquaintance. He send her home after she misses her bus. He ends up staying at her place after getting trapped in a blizzard.
Another discussion session starts. This apparently God fearing girl is a university student who had her own vices.
Fast forward... 5 years later.. Jean-Louis and Françoise are with a child. They are picnicking at a beach when they bump into Maud. Maud is single again after another bad marriage. We can kind of guess that the 'other woman' in Maud's life (who wrecked her earlier marriage) was none other than Françoise.
Jean sensed it too but decide to let bygones be bygones and continue enjoying time with his young family.....
FG says...Just maybe, the path most travel would the path of least resistance. Perhaps, the person who is forever is looking for the best, forever analyzing the pros, the cons, the shortcomings and rationale of choice would not move an inch from his place of departure?

Oh, those were the days!

Suzanne's Career (La carrière de Suzanne, French;1963)

This second of Eric Rohmer's offering of 'Moral Tales' deals with the friendship of Bertrand, a pharmacy student, a shy, passive guy who befriends a guy, Guillaume, who is a blue bearded lady killer who is only interested in short affairs without the emotional baggage. Bertrand is interested in a girl named Sophie but is too morbidly shy to progress anywhere. In the meantime, Bertrand is inadvertently dragged into Guillaume's game to bed  Suzanne and use all her money. The unashamed Suzanne just follows Guillaume's whim and fancies with no self pride. Sometimes, Bertrand feels pity for Suzanne, especially when she became broke and jobless. Along the way, Bertrand also loses some money that he left for safe keeping in his textbooks. Not knowing whether the culprit was Guillaume or Suzanne, he just keeps it to himself.

Bertrand tries to improve his relation with Sophie but it goes nowhere.

A few months later, he hears news that Suzanne is getting married to a rich guy.

Bertrand thinks to himself that Suzanne is not just a sorry victim of Guillaumme but was the winner of the race! (Whatever race that was).

Out of sight, out of mind?

The Bakery girl of Monceau (La Boulangère de Monceau, French; 1963)

Written and Directed by: Éric Rohmer

This 23 minute mini presentation is the first of Rohmer's six series of 'Moral Tales'. These moral tales are not meant to appear overtly preachy or the actions to be good or black, but meant to stimulate our thinking faculty. Inevitably, the answers are never black or white depending on your morals.
This offering is a narrative of a law student who is mesmerized by a lady (Sylvie) who passes through his path daily. After much hesitation and shyness, he managed to build some courage to talk to her amidst an accidental bump into her at a pedestrian crossing. Then she disappears. The protagonist, Bertrand, goes wandering around the vicinity that she was usually spotted during his free time trying to locate her, in between his preparation for his examinations.
During these walks, he would regularly stop at a bakery for snacks. After many visits, he started fancying the girl at the bakery (Jacquiline). He started flirting with her. He made a date with her.
Just before the date, the missing lady appears. She had been home bound for three weeks after a foot condition. They continued their relationship right where they had stopped before. He finds her sharing his same frequency, unlike the girl from the bakery. Pretty soon, they get married.
The girl from the bakery is no more in the picture as she was going off to work elsewhere anyway!
I suppose what the writer is saying is the concept of love is a very fickle one. At one moment, you think, with the raging hormones and the irrational impulses of the mind, that she is the one for you and you would die for her. And the next moment, out of sight out of mind. With nothing binding them together, the eyes wonder and they make do with what is within their reach. So much for Romeo and Juliet kind of love saga....