La Collectionneuse
Directed by Eric Rohmer
Written by Eric Rohmer with dialogue by some of the actors
1967/France
Les Films de Losange/Rome Paris Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Adrien: I found a definition for Haydée. She’s a collector! Haydée, if you sleep around without premeditation you are the lowest of the low. The atrocious ingenue. But, if you collect in a consistent way, with obstinacy, it’s a plot, things are entirely different.[/box]
Eric Rohmer, the anti-Jean-Luc Godard. I love him so.
Adrien, a pretentious self-absorbed art dealer, declines an invitation by his girlfriend to vacation in London. Instead, he heads for the Riviera where he plans to think great thoughts in the company of Daniel, a painter, in a villa loaned them by a friend. To their surprise, they find it occupied by Haydee, a friend of their friend. They expect her to be frightful. Instead, she is a sexy teenager and free-spirit who spends her evenings with various assorted men. She is also straight-forward and authentic.
Although Adrien disapproves of Haydee, he finds himself increasingly obsessed by her. Instead of indulging his lust, he resorts to trying to get Daniel and a fellow art dealer to sleep with her. Much game playing precedes the thoroughly satisfying ending.
Rohmer has a special understanding of women that speaks to me in all his films. I also love the way he skewers pretension wherever it appears. At the same time, his filmmaking is as sunny and happy as Agnes Varda’s. I haven’t seen all his films yet but this journey should take me there. This movie is early in Rohmer’s career and already so, so good. Highly recommended.
Unfortunately no sub-titles
