Conte d’été

Conte d’été is set in the summer holidays on the Brittany coast. Gaspard, a maths student and musician, is waiting for his lover Léna to arrive. In the street he is spoken to by Margot, a girl who is studying ethnology and has a summer job in her aunt’s snackbar. Margot, whose boyfriend happens to be absent too, soon feels attracted to the reserved Gaspard, who admits that Léna does not treat him well. As their platonic relationship blossoms, Gaspard’s attention is distracted by the voluptuous Solène. And then Léna appears.The assonating chain Gaspard-Margot-Solène-Léna fits in aptly with the universe of young loves that Rohmer has built up over the years. Many critics regard Conte d’été as one of Rohmer’s greatest successes. Telling is the declaration of love by Freddy Sartor in Film & Televisie + Video: ‘With a needle, Rohmer scratches the layer of varnish off his characters. In the face of the horizontal of the deep blue sea and the azure blue sky, Rohmer works vertically, in the depths. With his brother-at-arms Jacques Rivette, he playfully puts together his daring and playful pirouettes in which girls splash around in a marsh of (contradictory) feelings, often bumping into nonchalant boys in love. Even in its umpteenth incarnation, the romantic escapades described by Rohmer are still refreshingly real, mischievous and roguish. Conte d’été, bottled with sparkling dialogues, is delightful cinema.’