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French completist wrote:Does anybody know what exactly was the role of Rohmer in La Cambrure?

I think he just fucked the lead actress.

There is mention of him editing it and acting as technical advisor, also of it being a collaboration from 'Compagnie Eric Rohmer'...

Film Comment mentions it as his first encounter in 1999 with digital video, prefacing his feature length film made on digital video in 2001, THE LADY AND THE DUKE...

ellipsis7 wrote:There is mention of him editing it and acting as technical advisor, also of it being a collaboration from 'Compagnie Eric Rohmer'...

I think the on-screen credit is more explicit. I'll have to check again, but I think it was "Decoupage" - which sort of means "shooting script" - and which would suggest that the film was designed, shot for shot, by Rohmer, which is certainly how it plays.

You're right - I just watched it again and credits say 'Decoupage - Rohmer'...

Michael Kerpan wrote:

artfilmfan wrote:Question: Does anyone else ever think that the male characters in Hong Sang-soo's films behave a lot like many of those in Rohmer's films?

Yes and no. The male characters in Hong can be equally big jerks -- but I find them generally far more believable (and human). The most annoying Rohmer males strike me mostly as over-talkative puppets. Perhaps it is a good thing that Hong's male characters tend to be far less articulate.

Ahhh, over-talkative jerks are more annoying than the less articulate ones. I got it.

Just a note on the links between shorts, which shows the evolution of the New Wave...

Godard stars in and was joint funder with the director of Rohmer's 1951 short PRESENTATION (on SIX MORAL TALES disc #1), which was revised subsequently (changing character name from Alice to Charlotte) giving new title CHARLOTTE AND HER STEAK... This then led several years later to a series by Rohmer and Godard, spurred on by Rivette's success with his collaborative short LE COUP DE BERGER (1957) (on bfi R2 PARIS NOUS APPARTIENT disc)...

CHARLOTTE AND VERONIQUE (TOUS LES GARCONS S'APPELLENT PATRICK) (1957) was directed by Godard and scripted by Rohmer... Can be found on the CC A WOMAN IS A WOMAN disc....

Rohmer and Godard then did two separate solo efforts...

VERONIQUE AND HER DUNCE (1958) by Rohmer is on CC's SIX MORAL TALES disc #6...

And CHARLOTTE ET SON JULES (1959) by Godard, is on the R2 Optimum BREATHLESS disc...

Truffaut, who soloed shorts UNE VISITE (1954) (camera, Rivette)and LES MISTONS (1957), and had written and co-directed UNE HISTOIRE D'EAU (1958) with Godard, got in first with his Cannes celebrated feature 400 BLOWS (1959)...

Rivette who had started production earlier on PARIS NOUS APPARTIENT (1960) did not finish his film before the New Wave breakthrough, BREATHLESS (1960) directed by Godard from a Truffaut treatment...

PARIS... was rather eclipsed at the time, as was Rohmer's film LA SIGNE DU LION (1960) (to be released R2 by AE in December) which languished 2 years waiting for a distributor and release....

Truffaut had meanwhile made his seminal New Wave film TIREZ SUR LE PIANISTE (1960)...

justeleblanc wrote:Agreed. He reminded me of people I hated, but in a bad way. I felt he was always performing, always ingenuine, and always getting what he wants. There are moments when this immature jerk gets what he deserves, but they are in such small doses that both times I watched this film I was unable to fully enjoy it.

Ditto. Though I would say that with him being an emotionally immature wreck he is unable to appreciate all the good things in his life. Therefore he sort of gets his comeuppance on a constant basis.

justeleblanc wrote:I wonder if this was Rohmer's intention or Brialy's short-comings.

Without knowing much about Rohmer, I probably shouldn't speak for him, but what the hell: it was Rohmer's intention.

Writing down some of the things that Jerôme says and does I don't see how any actor could have made him sympathetic. Certainly I can't blame Brialy for Jerôme being such a shit.

Napoleon wrote:Ditto. Though I would say that with him being an emotionally immature wreck he is unable to appreciate all the good things in his life. Therefore he sort of gets his comeuppance on a constant basis.

I can see that.

On another note, did anyone see parallels between his relationship with the brunette girl (who's name eludes me, who appears in Rohmer's later films) and the relationship in Ted Demme's BEAUTIFUL GIRLS with the young Natalie Portman?

I don't know about that. Its been a long time since I saw it but I don't recall Portmans character being exploited as insidiously as Jerome exploits the girls in Claires Knee.

In Beautiful Girls isn't the relationship about Hutton's character re-finding in Portmans character some of the idealism that he has lost in the transition from young man into an adult?

In Claires Knee its all about Jerome feeding his ego.

Totally, but I was more interested in the character herself, the precociousness and confidence and the older character's attraction to it.

Thanks ellipsis7, that really shows how close the filmmakers seemed to be to each other's projects. It is great to get some context on when and in what sort of order the shorts were made since with their being spread over so many different discs it is difficult to see the connections on a casual viewing.

justeleblanc wrote:Totally, but I was more interested in the character herself, the precociousness and confidence and the older character's attraction to it.

The girls are similar but the men's relationships and reasons for attraction to them are not. I don't think that Jerome is attracted to Laura for any reason other than to prove himself that he still has 'it'. Who and what she is doesn't seem to register much with him. Hutton's character sees Portman as an equal and a kindred spirit in Beautiful Girls.
But like I say, it has been a long time since I watched BG, so I cannot be sure.

fliggil wrote:does anyone know what piece is playing at the music recital about 20 minutes into My Night At Maud's?

I don't know exactly, but it's clear that it's a Mozart Violin Sonata in Bb (or that movement is in Bb, at least). He wrote 2 in Bb, so you can narrow it down from there.

jorencain wrote:

fliggil wrote:does anyone know what piece is playing at the music recital about 20 minutes into My Night At Maud's?

I don't know exactly, but it's clear that it's a Mozart Violin Sonata in Bb (or that movement is in Bb, at least). He wrote 2 in Bb, so you can narrow it down from there.

"Sonata for Violin & Piano K385"

justeleblanc wrote:

portnoy wrote:In terms of the difficulty with the male protagonists, it's something I've had to deal with as well - I love La Collectionneuse and really liked Love in the Afternoon, but I just couldn't get past Brialy in Claire's Knee - he's such an unapologetic shit that I couldn't wait until I was through with him.

Agreed. He reminded me of people I hated, but in a bad way. I felt he was always performing, always ingenuine, and always getting what he wants. There are moments when this immature jerk gets what he deserves, but they are in such small doses that both times I watched this film I was unable to fully enjoy it. I wonder if this was Rohmer's intention or Brialy's short-comings.

For me the film is a perfect exploration of the ways men make excuses for their behaviors so as to justify their actions to others. I don't think the audience is supposed to have any sympathy for him, and indeed I would like to meet the viewer who does. The film goes out of its way to make Laura immensely appealing and the polar opposite of Jerome's immaturity, with Claire being an afterthought, a further indictment on Jerome as a human being. I found Claire's Knee overwhelmingly to be the best film of the set.

Has anyone had problems with any of the discs in their collection? I got this as a late Christmas present and my Claire's Knee disc seems to be defective. I've used Criterion's Report a Problem service twice and they still haven't responded back to me. My Claire disc starts to freeze and skip after chapter 4 and doesn't let up, and I've tried it on at least 3 other players. There's no sense in returning the entire set since that's the only disc that is malfunctioning. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get a replacement disc?

By the way, faulty disc aside this has to be one of the best dvd purchases I've ever made.

Robert de la Cheyniest wrote:Has anyone had problems with any of the discs in their collection? I got this as a late Christmas present and my Claire's Knee disc seems to be defective ... Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get a replacement disc?

Robert, call Criterion. White/Yellow Page them for the phone number. That's my best bet. I called them when I needed a replacement M and it saved me lots of stress.

Just rewatched My Night at Maud's last night and I have a question: what's the last American movie that features characters engaged in any sort of discussion of ideas? That question's not purely rhetorical...I really want to know. The ONLY one I could think of in the last thirty years was Crimes and Misdemeanors; surely there are others that I either can't recall or haven't seen.

Any QT movie, of course.

Take a look at Richard Linklater's films. Specifically the Before Sunrise/Sunset films, Slacker, Waking Life, Fast Food Nation, and even A Scanner Darkly.

Whit Stillman's Metropolitan is another decent example. As is My Dinner with Andre.

I'm sure Mamet pulls this off as well, but nothing is coming to mind.

justeleblanc wrote:I'm sure Mamet pulls this off as well, but nothing is coming to mind.

I would say House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, and perhaps Spartan.

Rope

justeleblanc wrote:Whit Stillman's Metropolitan is another decent example.

Yes, very Rohmer-esque. Particularly in the way the characters' apparently abstract philosophical discussions throw an oblique light on their own personalities.

I disagree about Tarantino, though I've only seen Pulp Fiction. His characters talk and talk and talk, but it's all superficial verbiage.

Kinsayder wrote:I disagree about Tarantino, though I've only seen Pulp Fiction. His characters talk and talk and talk, but it's all superficial verbiage.

He was kidding.