Amor à Tarde

Great film by Rohmer. Another one that puts moral dilemma to the "grand jour". Emotions, feelings, passion, love: those are the ingredients so dearly associated to Rohmer. He explores human fallibility by telling us the story of Frédéric (Bernard Verley). He's married to Hélène (Françoise Verley), but along the way comes Chloé (Zouzou). Will he let go to temptation?

Like other movies from Rohmer, "L'Amour l'après-midi" is presented like a book. It's a great combination of cinematic and literary experience.

Out of 100, I give it 84. That's good for *** out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 18th, 2002.

After watching "Claire's knee" which I personally adore, I was very impatient to discover another Eric Rohmer film. "Chloe in the afternoon" didn't disappoint me. As a matter of fact, I was captivated by the way E.R. puts his characters in interaction. It's unique to see how the scenes are put together and how E.R. makes you live the characters. I was really touched by this "moral tale".

I have been all over the map with the Six Moral Tales. In this one, a very handsome man who seems fixated on all attractive women (at times he is such a self-centered snob) and who has a waif-like wife and child at home, finds he is being pursued by the lover of a former friend. They begin a relationship, meeting in afternoons while he is supposedly at work. His job allows him freedom to roam while his wife is mostly at home. What happens between them is a continuous conversation about his right to do what he is doing. She is a strong, almost masculine woman (still quite attractive and sexy) and she allows him to be introspective all along the way. This becomes more a discussion on morals and the state of the world when it comes to how men and women treat each other, than a story of romantic interlude. Of course, one who sees this in isolation and knows nothing of Eric Rohmer, would first find it a bit dull, and then probably say how unrealistic it is. But a point is made. I saw all six of these films many years ago and am now looking at them more closely.

Whether Frederic is on the train, at home with his wife, or trying to figure out how he'll handle the ravishing Chloe from his past life, he seems to truly appreciate the beauty that surrounds him and he wrestles with how to respond.

I was particularly taken with the scene on the train when Frederic begins to explain how he is able to remain under control in the presence of so many beautiful women in the world. Simply acknowledging such beautiful creatures seems to be enough for this man, yet when Chloe arrives on the scene we begin to wonder if Frederic will fold under pressure.

I can surely identify with what Frederic feels on the train. It happens to all of us -- we are faced with beauty, and we must respond. How we respond is what makes life worth living.

"Chloe in the Afternoon" is the sixth and final work in Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" film series. While the film's story is quite simple (a married, bourgeois man encounters a woman named Chloe who he hasn't seen in years, and begins to have some sort of a love affair with her), the film's characters are not!

All of the "Six Moral Tales" provide the viewer with a cast of excellent and memorable characters. Even if these characters aren't always the most likable (just look at the film "La collectionneuse"), they are always very interesting to watch. I believe that the characters in "Chloe in the Afternoon" may be the greatest characters in the "Six Moral Tales" series. Especially the character of Chloe, a very smart and likable character who offers a lot of the film's greatest and most interesting dialogue (great dialogue is another feature that is all over this film series).

Another thing that I found highly impressive about the way her character was written was how she is given a clear back story, but, instead of her back story being forcefully told to the audience in detail all at once it is simply glanced over. It is perhaps the least forced back story given to a character in any other film that I've seen.

The film also turns out to be the most emotional of the "Six Moral Tales", with a truly compelling ending sequence. You can tell that director Eric Rohmer's films really began to mature since the earliest of the "Moral Tales", the 1962 short film "The Bakery Girl of Monceau".

While it isn't the best of the "Six Moral Tales", and it was kind of slow at times, it is a perfectly fitting ending to one of the greatest of all film series!