Rohmer’s movies are truly the embodiment of romantic philosophy within French cinema the way I would equate it to Chekhov’s short stories, like the The Lady with The Pet Dog.
The movie is an incredibly nuanced account of a devoted husband and the internal conflicts he faces in the midst of a somewhat successful marriage. I usually wouldn’t enjoy a plot line of a married man committing any sort of cheating, be it physical or emotional, but Rohmer portrays it…
It’s a beautiful and incredibly sad movie about the relationship between mother and son, the struggle of making something of yourself when life has put you at a disadvantage and the love of a mother that would do anything for her child despite her hardships. I love the song Violino Tzigano which is a recurrent motif in the movie.
It’s a very stripped down movie with a simplistic plot that leaves room for deeper exploration of the protagonist’s thoughts and psychological development as he builds his plan for escape. In a way, I found it to be a very meditative movie, easy to follow but not at all simple in the themes and ideas it portrays. It’s interesting how many times a complex plot might translate to little / superficial understanding of the film’s themes / characters / building…
