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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece! However, if you must own it, buy the VHS., January 10, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Chloe in the Afternoon (DVD)
First of all, I want to stress that there is siginifcant disjunction here between the excellence of Rohmer's film, and the dismal quality of the DVD. Thus, my criticism is not addressed to the film itself, but to the lackluster transfer by Fox Lorber. I can second the comment of the reviewer below, that the film itself deserves five stars, whereas the video and audio quality of this DVD are no better than a VHS tape (in fact, this would be very low quality for a VHS for that matter). Moreover, as with their Godard and Truffaut issues, Fox Lorber has marked only 6 chapter headings on this DVD. Now how hard is it to bookmark a chapter? Of course, I suppose that would actually require taking some interest in the film itself, and perhaps even watching it a couple of times, so as to gadge the appropriate moments to bookmark. Thus, this DVD does not even have the advantage of convenient chapter options. It is a shame that a company who owns the rights to so many great films repeatedly releases such poorly engineered DVDs. There are, of course, exceptions (more recent titles, many of the Truffaut issues, or Godard's "Vivre Sa Vie," for example). Nonetheless, I have come to expect from Fox Lorber below average video and audio quality, along with few special features, if any (even the director and actor videographies are often incomplete). Even though I own many DVDs from Fox Lorber, inspite of their mediocre quality, this is one issue that I cannot recommend. I first rented this film on DVD, but elected to purchase it on VHS, instead. This is my favorite Rohmer film, with "Claire's Knee" following a close second, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in international cinema. However, do not waste your money on this DVD edition.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing story about love and monogamy, August 7, 2001
Veteran French actor Bernard Verley stars as Frederic who is the kind of man who loves women with a great passion, but finds that he can direct all that love physically into one woman. Chloe is a woman, cynical about men, confident of her power of seduction, a woman who never wants to marry. They were friends and now they meet again. He is married, a successful businessman. She is single, living from day to day. What will happen? Will she entice him away from his wife? Will he find the French happiness with a wife and a mistress? The title, while good, is misleading, as is the sexy cover on this video. (The French title, L'amour l'apres-midi, is better; but that title in English was taken by Love in the Afternoon (1957) starring Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn.) This is about as sexy as a Disney movie (although there is some backside nudity), yet it is an intriguing story about love, human sexuality and the question of monogamy. I can already see some of the other reviews: "Too talky." "Endless talk and no action." Ah, but they are wrong. This is a fascinating film in which the action is subtle and true and very interesting. Francoise Verley plays Frederic's wife. She is not nearly as pretty as he thinks she is. Nor is she as removed from his life away from her as he naively believes. Eric Rohmer's subtle direction makes it clear that she knows more than she will ever tell him, that she loves him and perhaps prays that he still loves her. But she is above saying a single word. One gets the sense that she knows he is a man so attractive to other women that it is inevitable that he will stray. But does he? The final scene in which we know why she is crying--although ironically, he does not--is just beautifully done and ends the movie at exactly the right moment. Zouzou plays Chloe who is Parisian, bohemian and quietly desperate. As usual with Rohmer there is a kind of realism in the movie that defies description. The people and the scenes and the events are real; there is no straining for effect, and everything is understated with a characteristic Rohmerian message about human nature. This starts slow and never really speeds up, but do yourself a favor and stay with it. The denouement is beautifully turned and the revelation of the three principal characters is as clear and clean and agreeable as Chloe after her shower.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great film. Poor DVD., July 19, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Chloe in the Afternoon (DVD)
Like all of the Fox/Lorber releases of Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" film series, I'd give this film 5 stars for content, especially if you enjoy writer/director Eric Rohmer's subtle, deliberatly paced, conversational style. His films crawl into your consciousness slowly and before you know it you're hooked. Unfortunatly I'd give the DVD transfer 1 star as it looks and sounds no better than Fox/Lorber's currently available VHS version and there are no extras to speak of except for incomplete director and star filmography listings. The film is not presented in its original aspect ratio and the French subtitles are burned into the print and so are not removable from the screen. Final rating: 3 stars END
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