CHLOE IN THE AFTERNOON Movie Review

L'Amour l'Après-Midi

The final installment in Eric Rohmer's series of “Six Moral Tales” finds the director contemplating a familiar but ever-tantalizing situation; a married man's contemplation of a no-strings-attached dalliance with a beautiful and intriguing “other” woman. Frederic (Bernard Verley) is afflicted with the usual Rohmer curse; he examines his dilemma from so many angles that the pluses and minuses of expressed physical passion with Chloe (Zouzou) add up to a more daunting choice than selecting a mutual fund—and a somewhat less erotic choice to boot. Less well-known than some of Rohmer's other major works, his 1972 Chloe in the Afternoon (L'Amour l'après-midi) is nevertheless a thoroughly engaging, refreshingly cerebral examination of guilt, lust, and indecision—a fitting conclusion to the director's priceless “Moral Tales” cycle. (Keep a sharp eye out for one of the film's treats—cameo appearances by characters from earlier films in the cycle, such as Claire's Knee, My Night at Maud's, and La Collectionneuse.) Photographed in dark, saturated colors by the great Nestor Almendros.

NEXT STOP … La Collectionneuse, My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, Summer

1972 (R) 97m/C FR Bernard Verley, Zouzou, Francoise Verley, Daniel Ceccaldi, Malvina Penne, Babette Ferrier, Suze Randall, Marie-Christine Barrault; D: Eric Rohmer; W: Eric Rohmer; C: Nestor Almendros; M: Arie Dzierlatka. VHS FCT