Reviews

I watched Wavelength at film school and was mesmerised by it - I also got fed up with other noisy students who couldn't accept that beauty and truth can be found in the simplest ideas - ie a slow zoom across a loft studio.

If you only want narrative cinema then by all means, go out and get some lunch and come back, and hahaha, it's still zooming. How clever you are, seeing the Emperor's new clothes of avant-garde film. How f**king boring, what a dull, uninspiring attitude to life. Sure, it does seem preposterous at first, but ride that out and get into the merciless logic, and the slightly creepy human actions that occur, plus all of the fantastic colour filters and distortions that keep occurring and you'll find yourself hooked. The final 5 mins are fantastic, as the shot zooms into a picture on the wall of ocean waves and we have left the loft completely.

it's only 45 minutes, not 3 hours - anyone with an interest in experimental cinema should see it. Wish it was on DVD, but i guess it needs to be projected for full effect.

The Green Ray is certainly a strange fish - quite simply it's about a single girl's (almost)wasted summer, going on holiday 3 times, and each time finding herself bored and frustrated, and ultimately an outsider. We see scene after scene of holiday makers having a good time, and poor Delphine just not feeling at ease. She is somewhat opinionated, for example in the vegetarian lecture - we've all had to sit through one of those, and liable to burst into self-pitying tears, but Delphine never the less gets my respect for her refusal to opt for second best.

Very few directors would be brave enough to make a film like this, but Rohmer pulls it off magnificently, and in the process delivers one of his finest movies. I can see why some viewers might find it a waste of time, but having been on a couple of solo holidays in the past I can sympathise with Delphine's predicament. Plus The Green Ray rewards the patient with a truly poetic finale.

Like most of Eric Rohmer's work, you will either enjoy the laid-back atmosphere and chatty characters in Claire's Knee, or find it all incredibly boring. I happen to love them. It's rare to find movies that don't want to be sensationalistic and violent, but would rather present universal questions and then investigate them throughout the course of the movie.

I would recommend Love in the Afternoon as an entry into Rohmer however, as it is a little more pacey for those unfamiliar with his style. And my personal favourite is "The Green Ray"... but don't start there as the subject of the film is about boredom!