Claire’s Knee (Le genou de Claire)
Directed by Eric Rohmer
Written by Eric Rohmer
1970/France
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
Jerome: Every woman has her most vulnerable point. For some, it’s the nape of the neck, the waist, the hands. For Claire, in that position, in that light, it was her knee.
Another sun-baked picture about the vagaries of love from director Eric Rohmer. I love him so.
Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy), a diplomat, is spending his last summer as a bachelor at an idyllic lakeside resort. He runs into old friend Aurore, a novelist. She is content to enjoy a bit of time between her last lover and her next. Early on Jerome informs Aurore that his fiancee is not his type physically or personality-wise, but their open relationship has worked well for the last six years and he expects that to continue after their marriage. At any rate, he is no longer very interested in any one but her.
Aurore fancies including Jerome as a character in her next novel. To that end, she informs him that his landlady’s teenage daughter Laura (Beatrice Romand) is in love with him and dares him to follow through.Jerome is game and spends most of the rest of the picture flirting and playing mind games with the precocious 17-year-old.
All this changes when Laura’s gorgeous 17-year-old half-sister Claire shows up. Jerome is overcome with desire, specifically the desire to caress Claire’s knee. First he has to get around Claire’s boyfriend. I will go no further.
This is a happy, good-looking film. Some might find it talky, but I find the talking amusing and interesting. The luminous cinematography is by Nestor Almendros. I just love the way Rohmer keeps taking the stuffing out of stuffy men. Recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLGpWN1elJ0
