#121: The Aviator’s Wife
Part of the Top 150 Films series
If we have to have manic pixie dream girls as part of cinema, can they all be written by Eric Rohmer and played by Anne-Laure Meury and Marie Rivière? No? That’s a shame. The first film in Rohmer’s “Comedies and Proverbs”, The Aviator’s Wife isn’t hilarious, and its message isn’t groundbreaking, but that’s not the point. As an examination of the little ways that body language (through gloriously subtle acting by the cast), conversations (Rohmer’s ear for profound dialogue was unmatched here), and the passage of time (especially through tender lighting and lived-in production design) can have on relationships, it is almost peerless. Part mystery story (where the titular character hangs over everything like a ghost but is rarely seen), part inquiry of the human condition, The Aviator’s Wife is an unbelievably immersive experience that envelopes you with gentle dialogue, only to emotionally devastate you when you least expect it.
