A SUMMER’S TALE (Conte d’été)

Director: Eric Rohmer

1995, France, 113

Screenwriter: Eric Rohmer

Cast: Amanda Langlet, Melvil Poupaud, Aurélia Nolin, Gwenaëll Simon.

 

For the celebrated New Wave auteur Eric Rohmer, the third film of his Tales of the Four Seasons stands out as his “most personal.” Based on events from Rohmer’s youth, A Tale of Summer follows amateur musician Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) to a seaside resort on the coast of Brittany. There, three women (Amanda Langlet, Gwenaëlle Simon, and Aurelia Nolin) each offer the possibility of romance, but Gaspard’s inability to commit to just one puts his chances at love in jeopardy. Rohmer’s tender and amusing look back at his youth illuminates the fleeting nature of desire and the random nature of our choices, lit up by the languid waves and sun-saturated beaches of summer.

“A beautiful and bittersweet romantic comedy” – Tom Dawson, BBC.com