Metrograph

The capstone entry of Rohmer’s Moral Tales series stars Bernard Verley as a happily married lawyer who assures us via voiceover that his wandering eye is in fact proof positive of his unshakable fidelity—but then his serene rectitude is tested sorely by the beguiling Chloé (Zouzou), a friend’s ex who becomes his confessor, his companion in empty afternoon hours, and a challenge to his very conception of himself. A film that casts a spell with little more than a few charismatic, unaffected performers, a shrewd, funny, pretense-puncturing script, and magisterial marshaling of natural light by cinematographer Néstor Almendros. “In its way, just about perfect.” —Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

Distributor: Janus Films