Product Description

Few filmmakers have taken the principle of the 'talking picture' so far as Eric Rohmer, the internationally renowned director of the "Moral Tales", "Comedies and Proverbs", and "Tales of the Four Seasons Cycles". Occasionally dismissed as precious or overly literary, Rohmer's features may leave the impression that there is more to listen to than to look at. Yet as the secretive director (b. Maurice Scherer in 1920) points out, dialogue is no less engaging than the best gunfights, and if his characters prefer discussing love to making it, they are no less the 'heroes' of the stories they tell. The author of this comprehensive study, the first to appear in English since 1987, shows how Rohmer adopts Andre Bazin's theory of 'ontological realism', or the idea that film takes a direct imprint of reality, to craft a highly personal film style that blends the classical and the modern, theatrical artifice and New Wave spontaneity. Particular attention is paid to the independent mode of production espoused by Rohmer, to his films' reception in France and abroad, and to his key contributions as a Cahiers du cinema critic. Charges of political conservatism aside, the author of "My Night at Maud's", "Summer" and such period films as "Perceval" and the all-digital "The Lady and the Duke" emerges - like Hitchcock before him - as a singular inventor of cinematic forms. This critical overview, which contains an extensive bibliography and a filmography, will appeal to students of film studies, French studies, and enthusiasts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #714430 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages