Let me tell you about My Night at Maud's

Eric Rohmer was one of those lesser known of the French New Wave directors. He found his niche and stuck to it. He is also one of the most prolific -- still making films today. Comparatively, today his films may be reminiscent of those from Woody Allen and Richard Linklater, both of whom probably owe a great deal to Mr. Rohmer. Rohmer, unlike Godard, is less concerned with direct politics and less concerned with the deconstruction of the medium. Unlike Truffaut, he is not concerned with the trials of childhood. He also had little interest in working within genre (the gangster film being a favorite of the New Wave directors). His films are set in the present and usually are about a handful of people talking their way through relationships and ideas. The stories are unimportant, but the people are very important. In many ways, his films look very bland, usually photographed by the great, Nestor Almendros, however, upon later reflection they tend to conjure up pleasant memories of a warm, summer day in the countryside. I have been waiting for this film ever since I started watching Rohmer's films. It is the first that I can really call a great film. Don't misunderstand me, I like his works and hope to watch even more, but this is the first that affected me on both an emotional and intellectual level. It stars one of my favorite French stars of the era, Jean Louis Trintangnaut. He is a Catholic and most of the film is dedicated to he and few of his friends talking about religion, Pascal, relationships, and themselves very openly and honestly. It acheives a kind of unusual truthfulness about human behavior and beliefs, especially those within Christianity. Rohmer has a knack for creating characters that seem completely real. They have real beliefs and act real, and like real people, rarely adhere fully to any one set of beliefs. In many ways it makes the film difficult to write about because you can't neatly catagorize the characters into a typical movie stereotype -- they have complexities and depth. Anyway, I wouldn't hesitate to call this one of the great "Christian" films of all time. Also, on a technical level, Nestor Almendros's beautiful black and white photography reminded me of Gordon Willis' work in Woody Allen's, Manhattan. I can't call this one of the consummate works of the French New Wave, but it is an excellent film filled with well-realized characters and the kind of ideas that makes movies worth watching.