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A Summer's Tale

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Summer's Tale (1996), dir. Eric Rohmer (Winstar DVD, 2000)

Reminds somewhat of Claire's Knee, similar lush landscapes, water resort type of setting, plenty of gorgeous beaches somewhere in the Atlantic side of France (Brittany), and of course typical Rohmer cinematography (Diane Baratier). Immensely entertaining, despite minimal action.

This is the third of a series of Tales of the Four Seasons (reminding of Vivaldi's?), and possibly the most enticing. Like most Rohmer's stories, it isone of relationships on the verge of dissolution, or, rather, in a state a flux. No relationship in a Rohmer tale seems to be of a permanent nature-all seem to evolve, shift, fade, and come to life only to fade again, like the direction of a wind on the sand dunes.

The format is similar to the others: one male, making choices between several females; one female choosing and rejecting suitors (Autumn Tale). Almost always, it seems a question of choices. In this case, a young man, Gaspard (Melvil Poupard), arrives at this seaside resort, to compose music on his guitar, while awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend Lena, who is to be there soon in the company of some cousins. Gaspard seems to have nothing else in mind but his music, but he does attract the attention of a young waitress, Margot (Amanda Langlet), with whom he starts a sort of platonic relationship. He has a Master's in mathematics, and she is a Ph.D. in ethnology. They take several walks together and exchange ideas, but no romance evolves. Margot is delicate, respecting his attachment to another girl, but evidently she likes him. Another girl, Solene (Gwenaelle Simon), vacationing there with her uncle and aunt and some friends, makes a stronger and more physical impression on him. But he is held back when she tells him that "on principle" she doesn't sleep with anyone on a first date. She in an in-between situation, having just "dumped" two former boyfriends. Solene does like Gaspard, though, but when he tells her he is waiting for Lena, she attempts to force him to make a decision: either her or me. Gaspard, not used to making decisions, wavers. Lena arrives in the meantime, but she, quite unlike the other two girls, is not always as well disposed and friendly. Her moods change constantly, "black and white" Gaspard calls them. She walks away in a fit of temper, so Gaspard now falls back on Solene, and when she turns moody, goes back to Margot, who by now feels like being the "substitute of a substitute." Gaspard only has a couple of days left for his vacation (the dates of each episode are flashed on the screen), but then Solene calls him and asks for a date, at 8:30 that evening; but then a few moments later, Lena, evidently in a turnabout "white" mood, also asks for a date, at 8:00 that evening, and he calls Margot to ask her advice; Margot, however is busy with her waitress chores-she will call back. Gaspard panics; what is he to do with three dates? But a phone call comes in the meantime, a friend telling Gaspard he has secured the purchase of a stereo he needed for a bargain price ($600 down immediately), which Gaspard has to borrow from his first month's upcoming job. This call saves him. Why bother about keeping his dates with these silly girls when his glorious music career is so promising? He is happy! One phone call has disentangled all these relationships.

He does tell Margot, though, who understands, and takes him to the boat. Ideally, she is could have been the one.

All three girls are attractive, Solene being the sexiest and the most evidently certain of her allurements. Lena has the most perfect body but the hardest of dispositions. Margot, somewhat chubby, is still good-looking, nicely disposed, and brainier than Gaspard. All are female temptations for this indecisive young Don Juan, who possesses all his male desires, but who understands nothing of what is called commitment.

The story is not a sad one; Rohmer is adepts in avoiding the pitfalls of sentimentality. There is not love at first sight (or the second one), and physical passion is not the animalistic urge one sees in most American movies-whether the male is Michael Douglas or Brad Pitt. Gaspard is not particularly controlled at certain moments, but his emotional side is not ardent-taking a back seat to his "plans" (never quite stated). His relationships with these girls are fluid, more matters of the moment than what is seen as passionate preludes to triumphant love. But that is what the stuff of life is made of. Love here is not as in Jane Austen stories: a commitment that will eventually define moral character as well. In Austen, commitment to a person one loves becomes the primary consideration. Romantic love also thrives on that. It presupposes a sterling honesty, a purity of feeling if you like, that must remain unadulterated through thin and thick. But Rohmer does not give us romantic characters, and rather bursts the balloon of that delusion called romantic love-though does incline to the platonic variety; the latter suits his cast members better-a great deal of talk of friendship in the movie. Friendship (platonic preference) stays, does not demand or brawl as an obligation, and does not drag the body into the messy relationship. Gaspard actually does develop a platonic setup with Margot-and both are forced to be content with that, having not achieved the other sort. They will see each other again, somewhere.

Beautifully told. An unpretentious tale that does not promise much, and what it delivers is an extra reward. Watching such a movie is a constant pleasure, one that one does not want to give up. All the moments between these four people are precious, nothing is wasted. The groupings are quite special-mostly two people against a lushly photographed background-waves, a flat and wide beach, a room, some country paths, and some scenes on a boat. As usual, there is no musical score, but there is music, only that which is heard in the background or sung by the participants. Complex simplicity, and unpretentious beauty-Rohmer trademarks.

Gaspard, played by Melvil Poupaud, is a song writer, a good-looking but dull young man, a gauche loner with a flat voice and an inexpressive face who comes to this delightful holiday island of Dinard off the Brittany coast to await the arrival of his "sort-of" girl friend, who demonstrates how much she loves him by keeping him waiting for two weeks. During those two weeks, however, he finds two other girl friends - or rather they find him. It must be his good-looks, it can't be anything else. First he is picked up in a restaurant by Margot, a waitress, who turns out not to be a waitress but an Ethnologist, just helping out her aunt who owns the restaurant. Obviously such a bright and intelligent girl could not be merely working-class!

Amanda Langlet, who plays Margot and who appeared ten years earlier in Rohmer's "Pauline at the Beach." is clearly the star of this film. Much of the enjoyment of the film is derived from being in the company of this vivacious girl and being allowed to eavesdrop on her talk with Gaspard about love and relationships as they roam in the bright sunlight around this lovely French sea-side resort and the countryside beyond. She is such a very warm and sympathetic listener that it is difficult to understand why he doesn't fall in love with her. Why she doesn't fall in love with him is easier to understand. (you ask yourself; is this man a very good actor or a very bad one?) He makes a couple of inept attempts to move the relationship forward but is repulsed; she wants only friendship - and you feel he is lucky to get that - while she awaits the return of her Anthropologist boy-friend who is away in South America. Gaspard's dullness is made obvious when she takes him to hear an old sailor sing sea-shanties; her face so eager and enrapt as she listens intently; his face, alongside, so lifeless.

She encourages him to take up with Solene, played by Gwenaelle Simon in her first film, a friend of her's who they meet at a dance, but when he does, she is jealous, jealous of their friendship she says but secretly hurt that he now thinks of her as only a friend.

His relationship with Solene seems idyllic at first, they seem marvelously happy and well suited to each other. He is accepted warmly into her family, they all go sailing together and have a merry sing-a-long to one of his songs. But then, sadly, her true nature shows; she becomes aggressive and demanding, insisting that he take her to the island of Quessant or their relationship is at an end. And now Lena, his "sort-of" girl friend, played by Aurelia Nolin, appears and insists that he take her instead. He must now choose.

Rohmer's films are never plot-dependent; he prefers to dwell on the characters, to bring us into a close, intimate relation with them, while they reveal themselves in talk. And when the characters are as attractive as Margot, who could ask for anything more?

"A Summer's tale" is the story of a young man and three women. All in all, not much happens, but I simply couldn't help finding this film engaging. The dialogues are beautiful, specially in some scenes, for example when one of the characters says that he can communicate well with others, but that he is not sure of being really himself when interacting with a lot of people.

The main character is a young musician named Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud). Gaspard doesn't know what to do, or whom he would like to be with. He thinks he is in love with capricious Lena (Aurelia Nolin), and goes on holidays to Dinard hoping to find her there. At Dinard, Gaspard meets a young waitress who also happens to be an ethnologist, Margot (Amanda Langlet). Margot quickly becomes his friend, and introduces him to Solene (Gwenaëlle Simon), an attractive and outgoing woman that Gaspard begins to date. Things become complicated when Lena arrives to Dinard, at the same time Gaspard is dating Solene and he realizes he has feelings for Margot. What can a charming but indecisive man do? Well, watch this film and discover it!

On the whole, I can say that I loved "A Summer's tale", the third film in Eric Rohmer's "Four Seasons" cycle. In a nutshell, it is beautiful film, the kind that makes you forget you are watching a movie and turns you into part of whatever is happening. I can only hope that "An Autumn tale" is nearly as good!

Belen Alcat

I really don't have words to describe how sweet and delicated this movie is!!! I am still so in love with this movie; it can make me fly, just like in a dream... And the story is so real... Everyone can live a beautiful and modern story like that. When will I wake up from this fresh dream?

Well, first of all i'm absolutely enchanted by the film. It's amazing how this script can be so simple and so interesting at the same time. Everything is perfect, specially the beautiful beaches of Britanny and the magnificient perform of Amanda Langlet as Margot.
There he was, Gaspar a young musician tourist, resting alone from his Maths studies in a paradisiac island dealing with cross-relations with three uncomparable women: Lena, wild beautiful but without any brain, Solene beautiful, determined and warm, and the lovely Margot, the most interesting character in the hole story, his friend and listener of his youth emotional confusions about the other two girls. I think Eric's design the Gaspar character as a perfect grown-up teenager...I don't believe how can a boy could not fell in love with a girl like the no less good-looking Margot. In fact she is very very beautifull...i confess i wouldn't resist to her charming presence.
My sincere congratulations to Amanda Langlet, you've conquered a big fan!

Perhaps the best of Rohmer's season films. Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) takes a month long vacation to a beach in Normandy, waiting for his more or less official girlfriend, the somewhat snotty Lena (Aurelia Nolin), to come. While waiting for her, he befriends the waitress and aspiring anthropologist Margot (Rohmer regular Amanda Langlet). Eventually, a relationship between the two develops, which seems to consists almost exclusively of long talks in the beach. But this is not all, since he soon also meets the somewhat promiscuous Solene (Gwaenelle Simon) in a disco. When Lena finally arrives to the resort, more than halfway into the movie, he finally finds himself in the position of having to choose one of the three. Rohmer would want us to think that Margot would be the best choice, and is difficult to disagree, since she's so charming and so willing to listen to him and even put up with him. It's amazing how Rohmer (who was in his late 70s when he directed this) is able to portray how young people talk and interact. The final decision by Gaspard was a bit of a disappointment, but it was probably the more realistic possibility.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Though I found the "I've learned nothing" ending a little difficult, but probably realistic. The characters are interesting and engaging, and in the case of Margot, enchanting. Though we may not have all experienced exactly these circumstances, the youthful difficulties of sorting out love and attachment ring true.