LA COLLECTIONNEUSE Movie Review

The Gentleman Tramp

Is it the third or the fourth of Eric Rohmer's “six moral tales” cycle? Both, actually; it was the third to be filmed, but the fourth to be released, seeing the light of day only after the success of My Night at Maud's. La Collectionneuse is the story of Adrien (Patrick Bauchau), an antiques dealer who spends his vacation at a villa near Saint-Tropez; while there he meets Haydee (Haydee Politoff), a woman he nicknames “la collectionneuse” because of what appears to be her m.o. of “collecting” men. Adrien is appalled by Haydee's promiscuous behavior, but it isn't too long before he feels an attraction and has to make a decision on whether or not to act on it. Though he ultimately is able to make that choice, it turns out to be the result of an unforeseeable but most fortunate confluence of events—a situation that is pure Rohmer. Seeing La Collectionneuse after My Night at Maud's may be a bit of a letdown, since in retrospect this film feels like a less fully formed version of the other. It's nevertheless filled with Rohmer's characteristic sparkling wit and deeply felt sympathy for the circumstances of all of his characters. And the Mediterranean never looked better than when photographed by Nestor Almendros.

NEXT STOP … My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, Chloe in the Afternoon

1967 88m/C FR Patrick Bauchau, Daniel Pommereulle, Haydee Politoff, Alain Jouffroy; D: Eric Rohmer; W: Eric Rohmer; C: Nestor Almendros. VHS FXL