LA COLLECTIONNEUSE / THE COLLECTOR (1967)

Fourth in Éric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales ( MY NIGHT AT MAUD’S/’69 and CLAIRE’S KNEE/’70 best known in the series*) is an anti-romantic triangle for two men and one woman sharing a small villa in the South of France.  With prologues for each, Rohmer opens with debuting Haydée Politoff in barely there bikini getting the full ‘male gaze’ treatment; a portrait seen via Enlarged Details.  The men, also in debuts, are Daniel Pommereulle as a sour artistic pal no longer sharing a bed with the elusive Politoff, and antique dealer Patrick Bauchau, ridiculously assured as actor & character, letting us know thru incessant voice-over how he’s alternately repulsed & attracted to this carefree/careless stranger.  (Rohmer nothing if not overly verbal.)  The sexual politics very ‘60s (very French ‘60s at that), but often exploded by laughs or by Politoff who has a mind of her own behind a face that could pass for late teens or late 20s, along with whim-of-the-moment looks that change with every camera angle.  And comfortable using it to her advantage.  Keeping everyone off-balance, she’s a wedge between the men, and later between Bauchau and a possible buyer/investor who’s also intrigued by Politoff’s indifference . . . or is it provocation?  In a Rohmer antique store, the sign wouldn’t read You Break It/You Own It, but rather You Break It/You Giggle & Go.  NOTE:  Posted with only one ‘N’ as LA COLLECTIONEUSE sixteen years ago!  Oops!  Spelling now corrected, and a more involved discussion.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  The casually caught atmosphere of Rohmer’s first color film is deceptive.  Here’s cinematographer Philippe Rousselot:  I saw a film by Éric Rohmer called The Collector (1967) and I thought the photography was absolutely brilliant.  It was really one of the turning points in the history of cinematography.  Néstor (Almendros) was basically the first to start bouncing lights.  (Rather than using ‘fill.’)  There was a little bit of that with Raoul Coutard but apart from that Néstor really invented a way of lighting that everybody has used since.  So not only was I influenced by Néstor, but everybody was.

DOUBLE-BILL:  *Five Moral Tales to go.