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Reviews
Ma nuit chez Maud (1969)
dialogue as erotic hide-and-seek
The sexual attraction between Fabian and Trintignant is constantly veiled by debates on morality and temptation. In the whole night that they spend together, nothing "happens" except incessant talk, yet is the most enervating and erotic film from the Nouvelle Vague. Trintignant is excellent - plays a dour moralist, but on the rare occasions when he smiles his entire face suddenlly becomes warm and humorous. This is Rohmer's best analysis of the chessgame called "talk" - check out La Collectionneuse if you want to see his analysis of men fooling themselves that they can be above desire.
La collectionneuse (1967)
Razor-sharp and light-footed analysis of emotional vanity
Art dealer, in need of serenity, finds that the holiday villa is shared by a hedonistic young woman. He becomes obsessed with ignoring her and pretends to himself that she wants to seduce him while he remains unaffected. The holiday thus turns into a love triangle between the indifferent but flirtatious girl, the man's unacknowledged desire, and his incessant, pompous self-rationalizations (the best cinematic use of voice-over EVER!). A sunny, witty, and deeply ironic "moral tale" that explores, like most of Rohmer's work, the uneasy vacillation between intellect and eroticism.