Conte de printemps (1990) - film review

Jeanne is a high school philosophy teacher who decides that she cannot bear to stay in her fiancé’s untidy flat whilst he is away from home.  Unfortunately, she has already loaned her own flat to a friend.  At a party she meets a young girl, Natacha, who offers to let her stay in her flat.  She loans Jeanne the room belonging to her father, who is usually away, living with his girlfriend, Eve, of whom Natacha does not approve.  Although at first grateful for the offer of accommodation, Jeanne soon begins to suspect that Natasha is trying to pair her up with her father...

Conte de printemps is the first instalment in Eric Rohmer’s four-part cycle entitled Contes des quatre saisons (The Four Seasons Tales).  All four films involve a romantic theme played against a particular season of the year, the season reflecting the nature of the subject.

The style of the film is uniquely Rohmer: an intimate examination of the interaction between a small number of people, with feelings and ideas expressed though some excellent dialogue.  By using inexperienced actors, Rohmer achieves an engaging feeling of spontaneity which heightens the believability of the situations into which he places his characters.  The result is compelling cinema which, because it feels so real, strikes an immediate chord with the viewer.

A major theme for Conte de printemps is how negative thoughts, such as jealousy or suspicion, can poison human relationships and result in conflict.  Natacha is on the surface a very pleasant middle-class adolescent, but she sees the worst in her father’s girlfriend because she believes she stole her necklace.  Similarly, when she finds herself alone with Natacha’s father, Jeanne immediately suspects that is the victim of some blatant matchmaking.  Natacha’s father reaches the same conclusion but he is more willing to exploit the situation.  The way in which these negative thoughts change the characters’ outlook and moderate their behaviour, in such subtle, unpredictable ways, is what makes this film so compelling.  It is rare in cinema that such human responses are conveyed in such an engaging way and believable way.

Although not quite as satisfying as some of the later films in the Four Seasons cycle, this is a pleasing film which certainly encourages you to watch the other films.

© James Travers 2001

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