A Tale of Autumn (1998)

For this, the last of his Tales of the Four Seasons, Eric Rohmer chose the somewhat pastoral setting of a vineyard in French wine country. It's the story of a middle aged winemaker who wants to find a man but isn't willing to look for one; essentially she hopes to encounter the perfect man by chance but she severely limits the likelihood of a meeting because she rarely ventures away from her work/home. Her two friends (who always visit her, never vice versa) each try to set her up with a man. Her older friend attempts to deceive her into thinking the man she has picked is a chance encounter while her younger friend, who happens also be dating her son, makes her intentions clear.Essentially what Rohmer is saying with this film is that passively expecting things to happen without working for them in any way is foolish. Faith is a key theme in Rohmer's work and this might be taken as a sort of critique of blind faith. When the winemaker is thrust into these romantic entanglements she reacts like a petulant child instead of a mature adult. The logical plans of her wordly friends are a sharp contrast to her own naivety. Still, this isn't some cold rejection of her character; in spite of her flaws the winemaker still has some admirable traits and things work out well for her. This is the difference between Rohmer and certain other directors who attempt to analyze human nature: he never lets his ideas overcome the realistic boundaries of human behavior and thus avoids the all too common pitfalls of misanthropy and didacticism.Like almost every Rohmer film I've seen, An Autumn's Tale expresses some truths about human nature with a captivating realism. However, this film didn't really speak to me the way some of his films do because I ultimately don't have much in common with the winemaker. It's still well worth watching, especially for people who have more in common with the central character.

One of those French films where people walk through vineyards talking about love. Funny how you only find these relaxed chatty French people in movies yet the real Paris is as high strung and angry as New York. Maybe they act like this when they go to the country on weekends.Don't let this laid back act fool you, though. A stereotypical French professor lusting after his teenager students and lovesick middle aged women without anything to do is what passes for love here. The younger pretty people are so one dimensionally uninteresting they may as well be pets. It would appear that vineyard farming near a nuclear power plant is both glamorous and apparently not very time consuming. This leaves our characters plenty of time to wax melancholy about "l'amour".Among this films many conceits is the lack of a hairbrush or a comb for miles. Shaggy wind blown hair and weeds are the metaphors here. Give me a break!

Autumn comes round every year and so, it seems, does Eric Rohmer. Essentially we're watching paint dry here and taking our time about it yet somehow Rohmer contrives to make watching paint dry watchable. The plot, if you can call it that, involves Marie Riviere's Isabelle contriving to find a man for her long-time friend Beatrice Romand (Magali) whilst engaged on the same mission is the girl friend of Magali's son who has in mind a specific swain, her own ex-tutor and lover, Etienne (Didier Sandre) who teaches philosophy on the side, his main occupation being the seduction of his young female students. That's about it. There's some pleasant shots of the South of France, some eating, drinking, conversation and before you know it it's fade out time.

This was a little film with a simple plot and likable characters. In fact, Hollywood would learn a lot from films like this. It's not the dynamic plot, special effects or big name stars that often make a film exceptional, it's the writing and the acting! And this movie is written so lovingly and acted so honestly that I couldn't help but like it. This, despite the notable absence of the sensational elements in the movie, made for a wonderful film. Think about it--the basic plot is an older woman who owns her own small winery is lonely. So, her friend tries to find a man for her and so does her grown child. Talk about your simple plot! And yet it works! So if you are in the mood for something different, give this movie a try.