4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (1987)

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Writer:

Eric Rohmer (written by)

Release Date:

19 July 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Reinette and Mirabelle are two young girls. Reinette lives in the countryside, Mirabelle in Paris. They...

Plot Keywords:

Bicycle | Moral | Art Dealer | Student | Roommate

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Joëlle Miquel	...	Reinette
Jessica Forde	...	Mirabelle
Mr. Housseau	...	Le voisin
François-Marie Banier	...	1er passant
Mme. Housseau	...	La voisine
Philippe Laudenbach	...	Le garçon de café
Jean-Claude Brisseau	...	2eme passant
Gérard Courant	...	L'inspecteur
Yasmine Haury	...	Kleptomaniac
Béatrice Romand	...	L'inspectrice
Marie Rivière	...	L'arnaqueuse / The Swindler
Haydée Caillot	...	Charitable Lady
David Rocksavage	...	L'anglais
Jacques Auffray	...	Le tapeur
Fabrice Luchini	...	Le marchand de tableau

Also Known As:

Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (USA)
Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (France) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

USA:99 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Iceland:L | UK:U | West Germany:12

Company:

Compagnie Eric Rohmer (CER)

the nadir of Rohmer's work

I'm a huge Rohmer fan. I've seen all of the Moral Tales, the Comedies & Proverbs and the Tales of the Four Seasons. I dislike this particular film tremendously. Along with "Rendez-Vous in Paris," it represents Rohmer at his worst... moralistic, pedantic and amateurish. I've seen better summer camp skits than the bit at the cafe, the scene at the train station and the business at the art gallery. Frankly, with the exception of "The Blue Hour", the project is a wash. Joelle Miquel and Philippe Laudenbach deliver terrible, over-the-top performances, and even the great Fabrice Luchini seems foolish and out of place. Jessica Forde is passable as the jaded town rat. The only stand out (at least in a positive sense) is Marie Riviere who, as always, is entirely believable.

I'm not sure why this project got such a high IMDb rating. I can only think that people like the two-name films ("Celine and Julie", "Fanny and Alexander", etc.) because they sound whimsically playful. Rohmer has an excellent sense of humor (e.g., Conte d'ete, Boyfrends and Girlfriends, etc.), but this is not a delightful little caprice. With the exception of the first 20 minutes or so, it's a student project. Note also the horrendous original electronic music. Rohmer often refrains entirely from the use of music, and this is one case where he should have shown his usual restraint.