Dir. Eric Rohmer, 1970
Claire’s Knee is the fifth film in Eric Rohmer’s series of “Six Moral Tales,” and it is the first of his films I’ve seen. I watched it two nights ago and for reasons that, at present, I can’t fully understand or articulate, I find myself developing a deep affinity for this movie. Hopefully, I’ll find time in the future (perhaps after seeing more of Rohmer’s work) to revisit Claire’s Knee. Here’s what I am prepared to say:
The first thing to surprise me about Claire’s Knee is that, unlike so many of the films by other nouvelle vague directors, Rohmer’s movie is content not to jump through stylistic hoops and mostly eschews formal experimentation. Other than some startling ellipses, the film’s style feels self-assured and fairly conventional.
In the best possible way, Claire’s Knee is a bookish movie. It is literary in the sense that its plot, while essential, is subordinated to an examination of its characters’ desires and self-discoveries. And like the best novelists, Rohmer treats the internal lives of his characters with an insight that reveals a vivid and universal understanding of human thought and emotion; it is the kind of insight that is constantly surprising us by reflecting the nuances and idiosyncrasies of our own private mental experiences.
Inviting further literary comparisons, Rohmer relies heavily on dialog to develop and reveal his characters; however, his emphasis on conversation complements, rather than substitutes, the striking visual élan of Claire’s Knee. Writing in Cahiers du Cinema, Rohmer talks about the way his words and his pictures work together, saying “…people talk a great deal in my stories. But what do they talk about? Of things that must be shown with all the luxury and precision of images: of thinness, for example, of fragility, of the smoothness of a knee which must be made perceptible in order to understand the attraction it exerts on the narrator.” Under Rohmer’s direction, the slightest gesture of flirtation or momentary flash of eyes unfolds into a catalog of cruelty, kindness, wisdom, and doubt.
I’ll have more to say in coming weeks…
2 comments:
nathan again.
it is unfortunate, but "claire's knee" is the best romer picture i've yet seen (the others being "my night at maude's, cloe in the afternoon, and a tale of winter).
unlike "maude's" and "cloe", "claire's" was shot in color, and it lends it a lightness that the other two films don't have. ("winter" is also in color, but i couldn't attatch myself to that movie for a reason i can't remember...it's been a while). maybe the color combines with the breeziness of the seaside setting, vacationing, and general laziness of the enviornment made the film almost lovely. his other films (more city oriented) feel stuffy and dull.
anyway...thats my take. have you tried any claude chabrol? he's interesting anyway.
I agree completely. For some reason I doubt the film would have worked without the particular atmosphere created by its setting. One of the things I liked so much about this movie was the almost Edenic quality of the gardens. And I loved how Rohmer could manipulate the mountains and lake function as both playful and imposing elements. The landscapes are almost another character in this movie and I’m sad to here that I can’t expect something similar from his other films.
I haven't seen an Chabrol yet, but I've got some in my Netflix que that I'm looking forward to.
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