4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle

Do you like experimental films? Do you like films that are amusing and curious to watch, but, not very particular to have a well made star to end story? Then, this film is for you. It's a story about two girls in 4 sections. Interesting movie, and I liked it.

I think I used the same words about Eric Rohmer's Conte d'hiver, who also directed this movie, about two friends who meet in the country and later live together in Paris, consists of 4 segments. All four slow-paced and totally true to life. The two great actresses, the dialogs and the storylines themselves are all taken out of life, almost documentary-like. I liked the third one the most. It is a true joy to see these two different friends. They are a quiet couple in Paris quite different from the the two friends in also recommended La Vie Revee Des Anges.

Reinette and Mirabelle are two young women. Reinette lives in the countryside, Mirabelle in Paris. They meet during a holiday of Mirabelle in the country, when Reinette helps her to repair the tube of her bicycle and shows her the beauties of nature and in particular the 'blue hour'.

This is the classic meeting of the "city mouse" and the "country mouse". While the country mouse knows such things as how to cook and fix bicycles, she does not concern herself with such high-minded concepts as "ethnology". In her domain, she is the queen.

But we also see stories here where it pays to be a smart city mouse... through deception and cunning, you can get what you want in ways the innocent, sincere person never can. The interactions with both the waiter and the art dealer are just so good and really make this film a treasure.

Reinette's antics are meant to irritate, and Mirabelle is why you keep watching. This dynamic of contrasting characters (the 'neurotic' complimented by 'the cooler friend'), often appears in Rohmer films: there's melodramatic Blanche and likeable Léa in L'Ami de mon amie; childish Magali and demure Isabelle in Conte d'automne; and unbearable Sabine and beautiful Clarisse in Le Beau Mariage.

The grocery store scene in Four Adventures stands out as the highlight of the film to me. Rohmer took us through the most interesting scene in what felt like real-time, and then, in the very next scene, allowed Mirabelle to describe the event to Reinette. Was she going to exaggerate or tell the truth?! I thought that was a brilliant little moment, where we were able to be voyeurs not once, but twice.

Overall, this little gem about an unlikely friendship puts you exactly where you want to be: living in Rohmer's France for 1 hour and 39 minutes. My only complaint is: I wished Rohmer had worked with Jessica Forde (the actress who plays Mirabelle) in more of his films. She was a natural; one of my favorite Rohmerettes.

4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (1987) was written and directed by Éric Rohmer. Rohmer had some down time while directing the film Le Rayon vert, and used that time to make this interesting movie.

Joëlle Miquel plays Reinette, who is spending the summer in an isolated cottage near her rural home . Jessica Forde portrays Mirabelle, a Parisian who is vacationing in the area for the summer. The two women become friends. In the Fall, they share an apartment in Paris, where Reinette attends art school, and Mirabelle attends the Sorbonne.

Rohmer has divided the movie into four parts. The first part is when the two women meet. The other three parts are incidents that occur to one or both of them.

As in all of Rohmer's films, dialog is the very important. The women talk and argue throughout the film. Unlike many of Rohmer's films, things happen to them and those things are the basis of their discussions. (Usually, his characters just talk about relationships.)

The events include encounters with a shoplifter, a rude waiter, homeless people, and the owner of an art gallery.

The film is colorful, interesting, and easy to watch. It's not a masterpiece, but it's worth finding and watching. 4 aventures has a solid IMDb rating of 7.5. I thought it was even better then that, and rated it 9.