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August 30, 2006
Six Moral Reviews: considering Rohmer
The epochal Criterion edition of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales is under the microscope. First, in Slate, Stephen Metcalf says that he's realized Rohmer's his favorite auteur, 
writing also, "The default state of mankind is bullshitting, or the foisting of our self-deceptions onto others. For Rohmer, film was a uniquely apt way of putting this fact before an audience, though he did so without a tincture of contempt, either for the elaborate evasions themselves, some of which... are quite beautiful, or for the animal need being evaded by all the persiflage. Rohmer, a late bloomer, 
had started out a teacher and a critic, and by the time he ceded his life to making movies, he was well into his 40s. He once described his method this way: "When filming, it's usually: 'Camera,' then 'Clapper,' then 'Action.' I did the opposite. First I said, 'Action!' Then if it was going well I tapped the cameraman and he started filming." He is still a vigorous presence in international film at the age of 86, thanks to a very Rohmerian contradiction: His love of people and ideas has always exceeded any affection he may or may not have for the monomaniacal cult known as "cinema." More: At Senses of Cinema, Tamara Tracz offers a career summary. A selection of brisk thoughts on Rohmer from the likes fo Adrian Martin and Philippa Hawker is here. Click here for the 1978 National Film Theater retrospective brochure. And of course, here's the Criterion page on the boxed set.
Posted by Ray Pride at August 30, 2006 12:42 AM
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