Les nuits de la pleine lune

Maybe I've OD'd on Rohmer, just having looked at this film, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" and "The Aviator's Wife" (all on DVD)in a single week. This has the silly addition to Rohmer's other obsessions, of the idea that the full moon causes unusual behavior. Actually the girl behaves just the way the protagonists of the other films do when the phase of the moon is unspecified, that is, very indecisive. The main male character is nicer than the one in most of Rohmer's films.

"But Louise cannot have her cake and eat it too, she is over-confident in rationalizing her and Remi's situation, openly suggesting that their relationship can be terminated if they find someone else whom they love more, only to be hoisted by her own petard, after finally bringing a random guy to her pied-à-terre, Louise has a rude awakening on this night of full moon, that she has finally gotten over with meaningless sex, and it is Remy, their home in the banlieue beckon her, however, Rohmer makes it clear that it is not just she who has the say-so in this precarious relationship, but at the very least, she has some place to return to when her entire world crumbles down."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

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.

Eric Rohmer is one of my favorite directors because he captures human drama without being dramatic at all. The characters talks, explains their emotions, tries to make themselves understood by others, but there is a constant misunderstanding that cannot be explained. There is a vague feeling of despair and the futility of communication in general. When I first saw Eric Rohmer's film it reminded me of one of those TV shows that tries to portray a normal day-to-day life to teach foreign language. I feel Eric Rohmer's specialty is in this focus on language and communication, not to portray a specific story, but to portray communication and thus leads us to a story "out side" of the communication.

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.