Les nuits de la pleine lune

Sure, other artists, countless others, have spent their lives depicting the interrelationships of men and women. But I don't know of anyone who so consistently seems to understand human relationships than Eric Rohmer. So few can build as believable characters, such believable situations. Full Moon in Paris concerns a young woman, Louise (Pascale Ogier), who has arrived at a point of extreme confusion: she loves her long-time boyfriend, Rémi (Tchéky Karyo), but she desperately wants to be alone for once in her life. Rémi likes his life the way he has it, living in the suburbs, doing his job, coming home to Louise. But it's all too stifling for her. She rents an apartment in Paris, but that only partly steadies her mind. Louise also has another, more ambiguous boyfriend, Octave (Fabrice Luchini, who appears in several Rohmer films and stars in my very favorite, Perceval le Gallois). Their relationship is definitely on the romantic side, but both seem to be in it, at least most of the time, for each other's company. They can talk, where Rémi isn't an especially gifted conversationalist (not a good character trait if you're in a Rohmer film!). The film moves along as well as any Rohmer film, but for a long time I was pretty sure that Rohmer wouldn't be able to end it in any significant way, that it would end up being a great film (like I say, I couldn't find one of his films any less), but not one of his best. Fortunately, Rohmer really does find the perfect ending, which ends up lifting the film up and making it one of the director's best. The film really benefits from its perfectly written characters and amazing acting, as well. Ogier gives one of the strongest central performances in Rohmer's canon. Fabrice Luchini, man, I love this actor! He stars in my favorite Rohmer film and has a small roll in my second favorite (the vastly underrated 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle from 1987). Luchini is so perfect here, so subtly hilarious that most will not notice it. During one of Octave's many conversations with Louise, he rattles off a really good line and has to stop to write it down. Louise understandingly excuses herself to the restroom to give him time to get his quip recorded. 9/10.

"Les Nuits de la Pleine Lune" is by far one of the best movies I have seen. Rohmer manages to capture the full complexity of a relationship that is on the rocks. Fabrice Lucini as Octave is very believable, even during his pensive rants in front of the camera for an extended period of time. Pascale Ogier as Louise gives a very good performance, showing us how a woman like Louise acts when caught in the middle of trying to decide between two men and resisting another. She is sometimes seducing, sometimes a devoted girlfriend, and sometimes just acts like she wants to run away from it all. Tchéky Karyo is perfect in his ability to show Remi's awkwardness in social situations. Overall, an excellent movie.

--Céline. Contact me at Niancul@aol.com

I've seen this film four times. I've lived in Paris on two occations. I speak mediocre French. I'm a Francophile of sorts. I love most of Rohmer's films, but this one's special. I forced me to think of what I love in women the most. It's a crazy thing, but I identified with Louise, feeling her feelings. Took me years to sort it out. Someone said once that if you like a work of art, just enjoy it, don't analyze it. Louise is my piece of art. I adored her like one would adore a beautiful painting or a song. You don't have to understand something to love it! The funny thing here is that Louise couldn't understand herself either! Reason and intellect move on rails, emotions fly and flow. Rohmer created the perfect movie which lets us peek deep into human paradoxes. 10/10.

Full Moon in Paris (1984) Directed by: Éric Rohmer Starring: Pascale Ogier, Tchéky Karyo, Fabrice Luchini, Virginie Thévenet

Éric Rohmer's Full Moon in Paris (Les Nuits de la pleine lune) is a beautifully restrained and intellectually rich meditation on love, freedom, and the contradictions of modern relationships. The story centers on Louise (Pascale Ogier), a young interior designer who leads a double life-living with her boyfriend Rémi in the suburbs, while keeping a separate apartment in Paris to preserve her independence.

Louise believes she can have it both ways: the comfort of a stable relationship and the freedom of solo nights out in the city. But under the full moon-Rohmer's subtle metaphor for emotional volatility-desires surface, truths emerge, and her illusion of balance begins to unravel. Her flirtation with other men, especially her friend Octave (Fabrice Luchini), is less about passion and more about identity-about testing the boundaries of selfhood in love.

Pascale Ogier, in one of her final roles before her untimely death, delivers a luminous, deeply nuanced performance. She captures the internal conflict of a woman who craves autonomy but fears solitude. Rohmer's direction is, as always, dialogue-driven and observational-favoring natural light, long conversations, and unadorned realism.

What makes Full Moon in Paris so compelling is its emotional subtlety. There's no melodrama-just the quiet ache of human contradiction. Rohmer doesn't judge Louise; he lets her live out her choices, even when they lead to unexpected sorrow.

The final scene is a revelation-melancholy and quietly devastating. It's a film that lingers, not with answers, but with the haunting question of whether love and freedom can truly coexist. A bittersweet gem of French cinema, both romantic and ruthlessly honest.

Review written by artist jayakumar jrain.

If I had only one director's films to live with I would choose Rohmer. If I had to reduce his output to ten I would choose all of the six that make up the ' Comedies and Proverbs ' series, plus a couple from his ' Four Seasons ' and a couple from his ' Moral Tales. ' Les nuits de la pleine lune ' the fourth in his ' Comedies and Proverbs ' is his most tragic, and bears endless watching. It shows how an emotional house cannot be a divided one. As simple and as complex as that. Pascale Ogier is excellent in the role of a young woman who must live quite literally in two places; one with her partner in the suburbs, the other in Paris. She wants freedom and she wants to be attached and during the night of a full moon this situation comes to a climax. It is tragic because the outcome is not her choice, and I for one feel that this will be repeated again and again. She loves to be admired and wanted, and yet she is not at all promiscuous. I was struck too by the decors of both places and Rohmer's use of colour. Blue predominates. In her place in Paris she decorates it herself, and in her partner's place she seems to have only a small amount of choice. I could try to interpret the meaning of this, and also the meaning of the full moon which seems as meaningful as the sun in ' Le Rayon Vert ' also in the same series, but I will not indulge in analysis. I will only mention one observation; the moon is a sort of cold madness, while the sun in ' Le Rayon Vert ' and the experience of witnessing the elusive Green Ray before the sun sets promises the warmth of love. As usual Rohmer's choice of actors is perfect and that his dialogue is rich and clear. Why is he my favourite director ? That too is a mystery to me. I want to keep it that way because if I explained it to myself I might lose the magic of his films.