Out of the 50 films he has made this is only the third title of Rohmer that I've seen. I recently decided that with several titles available on DVD I should try to catch up on his back catalogue. It didn't bode well that I fell asleep halfway through this one and had to play it again. It seems fairly obvious - and is confirmed to some extent by the comments one reads about him - that Rohmer is a filmmaker who has a definite world of his own which attracts a polarity of opinion. There seems little room for polite indifference here it's either as outstanding as Orson Welles or as pathetic as Baz Luhrmann. With a long way to go, certainly in my case, I would argue that a middle ground IS possible; a second viewing did hold my attention and I was unable to fault his observation. On the other hand I find that this kind of 'gentle', unobtrusive film-making works better, for me at least, in movies like Le Chignon d'Olga and Le Grande Chemin. Having said that I will certainly make it a point to catch more Rohmer in the future.
Review of Pauline at the Beach
