La Collectionneuse

Rating:
Summary: A Barely Noticed Masterpiece of the Seventh Art
Review: Eric Rohmer is one of those few best directors ever, as uniquely gifted with the mastership of their craft so as to deem discussions on who's the better of them completely pointless; in the West, he is certainly the most philosophical. And La Collectionneuse is, from his many works I have had the chance to see, the most precious. The great impression it caused on me prompted some research on it, and I must now express my surprise at how incredibly few people who write reviews about this motion picture have noticed its genius.

Perhaps things are so because they have not seen it in the movie theater. Or else this Disc is also to join the numerous complaints that the Fox Lorber DVD versions of Rohmer's works have a very mediocre quality, technically speaking. It could be. The fact is that those who have watched La Collectionneuse only on the DVD can never be able to fully behold the marvelous quality of its images, shot in 16mm as far back as 1967, and which are made so impressively clear on the large movie-screen. It is a dream in silky textures of light and shadow, calmly led towards its climax in a contemplative, delightfully pleasant mood; its pace is even slower than the average Rohmer; who throughout his life has always been acknowledged for his care with the mis-en-scene, but who with this movie, one might say, has reached truly Shakespearean attention to details. It is perfect. There is nothing to be added or taken out. The beautiful shots of nature, the human atmosphere of the times, and all words and gestures fit together as well as life itself.

The screenplay of La Collectionneuse was written eight-handed by the director and the three main players: Patrick Bauchau, who represents Adrien; Haydee Politoff, after whose name the Collectionneuse herself is named; and the simply unforgettable Daniel Pommereulle. Pommereulle, who passed away in the end of last year after having stopped acting almost three decades earlier, has a part in this movie that seems never to have been properly called attention to by anyone, at least judging from the material that is available on the internet. I can barely recall any other better, clearer expression of one's character, displayed in a work of fiction at a movie screen. If one takes a look at his life and the sculptures he produced, he or she will have no doubt that here he does act his own self, Daniel Pommereulle in the film, expressing thus his own real stirrings and emotions. Or, it could be said, with a touch of irony, he does not act at all. He merely surfs the action upon his cues, like a child at play. All others play their parts on a similar mood, the result of which is partly baffling, but prompts a ready empathy on the part of the audience. This is a rare achievement.

So here is a lesson for movie and theater directors. Were I one, this would be my secret: as much as possible, ask people to play characters that are similar to their own in the real life; the more identical, the better.

Another merit of La Collectionneuse, still on the same vein but broadly speaking, is the fact that it is a thoughtful and subtle flux of conscience, narrated in first person, but without allowing a single concession to psychological or psychoanalytic interpretation; which makes of it a brave dissenter of its age: it is a platonic work of art, and the three prologues at the beginning are already a portrait of those who are to interact in the course of its scenes. As the last reviewer on this page rightly noted, Sam's sentence, "if I were ... etc ... plus proche de Dieu" is monogramic. Important as it is, this part of the script emerged spontaneously during the making of the scenes. It does not appear in the published screenplay in the Cahiers du Cinéma. Again one finds this same crispy candeur in the scene in which Pommereulle inquires the Italian cook about the next meal, bursting forth: "Pastaciutta!? encora, basta!". This was surely a spontaneous and unexpected scene, too precious not to be added to the final result.

The subtlety of this motion picture invites the expectator to see it a few times over, and he does not get tired of it. It is as well-done as the other good works of its director - my favorites stories are `Conte d'Hiver', `Le Genoud de Claire' and the latest 2004, prophetic portrait of the `Agente Triple'. There is a lot to learn from him. First, philosophically, there is the key to his messages: the carefully placed watchword `rien', `nothing'. Oh boy, if each time one of his characters said this word, it would really mean what he or she says, there would be no Rohmer stories at all. Secondly, the fact that the intellectual and abstract type of person always ends up thinking he is too good, but then he is overridden, if not by the fatal inevitability of the most intuitive and passionate roles, then by his own passions. The third comment that can be made draws into his recurrent gender situations: usually critics affirm that his personal mark is the stigma of strong and mysterious women; well, in truth it is not that the female characters are strong, but the male characters are weak and childish. Take for example Loic and Jerome Montcharvin in the two movies mentioned above. They are perfect examples of twentieth-century eunuchs. And so are others.

On the top of these brief considerations, and in fact superseding them by large, La Collectionneuse has something more than Rohmer's other works; an inexpressible gap between the whole and the sum of its parts, a fresh simplicity and naiveté that can break one's heart. After all is said and done, it leaves the expectator with that painful, though dearest longing after the characters portrayed. So real they seem to be.

It is a masterpiece.


Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, subtle, profound and funny movie
Review: Of course, if you never liked any of Rohmer's film, this one is not for you. But "La Collectionneuse" is an extremely beautiful, subtle and profound movie. Also a funny one, even if you don't laugh... Rohmer could have made only this single film, and yet would be an important and intriguing director.

Rating:
Summary: aaaah, la collectionneuse
Review: ok. first up, this is heavy duty french art film action. approximatley equivalent in endurance requirement to eg. slacker. and equally rewarding for those who make the effort.
the film focuses on a lazy summer. a young art dealer is staying at a friends south-of-france villa, where he proposes "to do absolutely nothing"
he and the friend pontificate about the lovelife of the artless haide as she sleeps her way around the riviera. their intellectualisation serves to put themselves morally above her - in their minds at least. but haide shows them that they are aiming for something they can never have - while she is often unsatisfied she is more often happy, or at least mildly amused.

this is an awesome mood piece - i thouroughly recommend quiet contemplation with your relaxant of choice. top notch

Rating:
Summary: Moral Tales #3
Review: The third entry in Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" series, shot in colour on 16mm. Those who can't get into Rohmer's other films certainly aren't going to have their minds changed by this one; indeed, some who have enjoyed the later moral tales, the comedies and proverbs, or the tales of the four seasons may even find "La Collectionneuse" excessively cerebral in both conception and execution. It's neither top-drawer Rohmer nor his weakest.

Rating:
Summary: Moral Tales #3
Review: The third entry in Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" series, shot in colour on 16mm. Those who can't get into Rohmer's other films certainly aren't going to have their minds changed by this one; indeed, some who have enjoyed the later moral tales, the comedies and proverbs, or the tales of the four seasons may even find "La Collectionneuse" excessively cerebral in both conception and execution. It's neither top-drawer Rohmer nor his weakest.

Rating:
Summary: Rohmer The Best Film ever Made
Review: This movie surpasses most of those movies mentioned as best movie of all times. Here are the reasons:
a) There is no stupid musik.
b) it has a perfect attention to detail.
c) It is honest.
d) The female character is introduced in a most marvelous way, her "tete ronde" looking absent at the hero as he mistankingly wanders to her bedroom.
e) There is no better scene of a spoilt artist banging his slipper against the floor.
d) "You are ashamed of not having money." -No with money my dandyism would not be heroic. -I too, had I been 6.5ft with a profile of an eagle, would fell myself proche de Dieu...

Rating:
Summary: S'il vous plait- save your money! Merci
Review: Well, I just have one word for this film-boring. Some of the scenery is good, but that's about it. So, save your money, go rent something else.