Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Conte de printemps (1989)

Director: Eric Rohmer

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Inaugurating a new Rohmer series (Tales of the Four Seasons), this begins with an atypically wordless sequence which effectively introduces the mood of mystery and ambiguity that will recur throughout. Caught between apartments, philosophy graduate Jeanne (Teyssèdre) attends a party, where a young girl, Natasha (Darel), invites her to stay at the flat she shares with her father Igor (Quester). So far so innocent, but presently Jeanne finds herself witness to, then participating in, recriminatory scenes between daughter, father and his youthful lover Eve (Bennett): jealous Natasha detests Eve, accusing her of theft, while Igor - encouraged by Natasha? - seems more than willing to be left alone with Jeanne. As ever, Rohmer examines their hidden motives and analyses the consequences of their actions with great lucidity, repeatedly delving beneath words to uncover, through gesture and intonation, their real meaning; nobody is wholly innocent, no one completely blameless, in the web of intrigue spun between Jeanne and her hosts. Rohmer may not be breaking new ground, but who else could explore his familiar territory so fruitfully?

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Related articles




Features

Do overs!

Do overs!

After Race to Witch Mountain, what should Disney remake next?

Gray's anatomy

James Gray wants to push buttons—again.

The next big thing?

Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.

Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema

So you think you can dance, comrade?

Puppet master

Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.

Socratic method

Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.

Wander woman

Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.

Oscars

Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.