Review: ‘A Tale of Springtime’ Presents Eric Rohmer at His Most Complex
The first of Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons is dense and philosophical
My introduction to the wonderful films of Eric Rohmer likely mirrors that of many others (of those who are around my age, at least). In 2017, I was enchanted by Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name. Its visual style was relaxed and beautiful, as was its plotting. Guadagnino’s film has a wonderful, elevated mundanity to it — characters are relaxed for the most part, going about their days with few external challenges or difficulties, in beautiful locations.
When looking up which films Guadagnino had been influenced by, many websites mentioned the likes of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant (such as The Remains of the Day or A Room With a View), but some sites also mentioned the films of Eric Rohmer. As I recall, few films narrowed this influence down to any particular Rohmer film, simply citing his full body of work as an influence. That piqued my curiosity, and off I went.
In the U.K. at least, Rohmer’s films can be difficult to come by. Including A Tale of Springtime, I’m fortunate to have been able to see 11 of his many films (my favourite, so far, is Pauline at the Beach for anybody wondering). I’m even more fortunate to have the three other Tales…
