La Carrière de Suzanne (1963) - film review

Bertrand and Guillaume are students at university in Paris.  Bertrand watches helplessly as his friend exploits a seemingly naïve young woman, Suzanne.  He does not know whom he despises most: Suzanne for allowing herself to be duped, or Guillaume for his despicable cruelty.  Bertrand suspects that Suzanne is transferring her affection to him, but he has no real interest in her.  He is smitten with another woman, Sophie, although she does not reciprocate his feelings.

In the second of his Six contes moraux, Eric Rohmer paints an all too believable portrait of adolescent vice and vulnerability whilst pursuing the central linking theme of a moral dilemma concerning love and desire.   Here, the central character Bertrand is no more than a spotty youth, dependent on his parents for money and a total no-hoper when it comes to the opposite sex.  His moral dilemma is hence more theoretical than in the other five Moral Tales – even if he were able to choose between the two women in his life, it is certain that neither of them would reciprocate his feelings.  Yet, in his mind at least, the dilemma exists and it has a profound effect on him, as the film’s conclusion reveals.

Although far less polished than Rohmer’s subsequent films, La Carrière de Suzanne is an engaging work which clearly shows the writer-director’s uncanny capacity for observing and then re-creating real-life situations on film.   Whilst the acting is not great, and technically the film is weak compared with Rohmer’s later films, the characters in the film appear fully rounded and believable, thanks largely to Rohmer’s naturalistic dialogue.

© James Travers 2002

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