Metrograph

Metrograph Summer of Rohmer

Éric Rohmer is a filmmaker for all seasons but there’s a particular pleasure to Rohmer in the summertime. This isn’t just a matter of his films favoring the warm months—of the trio playing in our “Summer of Rohmer ” two could be called partly “summery ” though he scarcely limits himself to filming people on holidays. It speaks instead to some tonic quality in his cinema: the crispness of his dialogues; the airy cleanliness of his images; the unhurried way he has of letting characters stretch out and reveal themselves instead of rushing them along to accommodate a narrative timetable as though they have all the time in the world. Rohmer is refreshing restorative bracing a tall glass of ice water for a wilting mind and spirit. And that’s nice anytime but in the summer it’s doubly nice.