Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24947 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-10-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Synopsis
The final installation in Rohmer's Six Moral Tales concerns Frederic, a happily married and affluent Parisian, who spends his afternoon daydreaming about women. An old friend, Chloe, begins dropping by of an afternoon and, one day, decides to seduce Frederic, leaving him with a nasty moral dilemma.

Customer Reviews

An Under-rated Gem
Love in the Afternoon (1972) is the last, and in my opinion the best, in the series of six 'Moral Tales' which Eric Rohmer made in the 60s and early 70s. It is a slender story of a married man who is tempted by a younger woman, set across a series of Parisian afternoons. Each scene is beautifully judged and the film also has some wonderfully quirky moments, not least a wacky, colourful title sequence with bizarre electronica music.

All the Rohmer releases on Arrow have been well presented, and this is no exception. At the time of writing it's priced at well under a tenner, and for that you get a beautiful, memorable little film which is infinitely rewatchable. If you like your films subtle and conversation based, this is one for you.

"Since I've been married, I find all women beautiful"
"Chloe in the Afternoon" (= "L'amour l'apres-midi", 1972) is the last of Eric Rohmer's "Six moral tales". It is not a long film, but it manages to deal with issues such as love, monogamy, infidelity, and the impact that small decisions can have on couples.

The main character is Frederic (Bernard Verley), a typical bourgeois immersed in his routine, married with one child, and with a wife that is expecting another son. Everything seems perfect, even though somehow monotonous, until the reappearance in his life of an old acquaintance, Chloe (Zouzou). That event suddenly tempts Frederic to be unfaithful to his wife Helene (Francoise Verley), something he merely thought about previously.

Chloe is everything Frederic and Helene are not: spontaneous, volatile and bohemian. That is probably the reason why she seems to attract and repel Frederic at the same time. Chloe, who starts to meet Frederic in the afternoons, is a woman on a mission: she wants to have a child with blue eyes, like Frederic, and has decided that her former friend will be a perfect absent father. So, both Frederic and Chloe seem inclined to have an affair, albeit for different reasons... But will that happen?

All in all, I think that "Chloe in the Afternoon" is a movie you might enjoy. It is slow, but has some interesting dialogues, and it is the kind of film that gives food for thought. This is far from being my favourite Rohmer film, but I don't regret watching it, and I consider that it deserves at least 3.5/5 stars. Recommended!

Belen Alcat

Restores your faith in film as a medium!
Among my favourite Rohmer films, Love in the Afternoon positively smoulders with (largely) unspoken passion. Some people favour The Green Ray, though personally I find the improvised dialogue tiresome. Instead, this film concentrates on the fragile and deluded consciousness of one man, Frederic, a happily married professional with his second child due.

Comically, Frederic believes he can attract women without ever being attracted to them, and without being unfaithful to his wife. But like many men, Frederic cannot face the truth of his feelings: he lies to his friend Chloe, his wife and above all himself before running a mile when Chloe makes a gift of herself to him. At that moment, he realises his true emotional attraction to his beautiful wife, Helene.

Rohmer has a unique and arguably very French talent for writing and directing feminine, graceful films that deliver a powerful emotional and erotic message without ever being explicit or overstated. The strength of the direction and acting are quite evident when you realise that the words spoken are of secondary importance and the subtext is where the action crackles in Frederic's occasionally stormy relationship with the unstable and ambiguous Chloe. Subtle, understated but very effective.

How wonderful to see a film that avoids the trap of underestimating the audience's intelligence. It was a pleasure not to feel that I'd been battered over the head. Magnificent stuff - restores your faith in film as a medium.