Le Rayon vert (1986)
Directed by Eric Rohmer

Film Review

Arguably the most visually poetic of Rohmer's films in his series of Comédies et Proverbes, Le Rayon vert is an engaging, wistful tale which easily evokes the sense of yearning and isolation which marks many of Rohmer's better films.    There are some strong similarities with the director's more recent film, La Conte d'été , although here the central character, Delphine (magnificently portrayed by Marie Rivière, who improvised much of the dialogue) appears to be locked into a hopeless situation where she has no choices to improve her situation, quite the opposite to La Conte d'été .  With its allusions to fortune reading and supernatural influences, Le Rayon vert is much more about chance than individual choice.

As in all of Rohmer's films, the cinematographic style takes precedence over the narrative, although this film appears to be more directionless than most of his films.  Whilst this creates a sense of frustration at times, the mesmerising effect of Rohmer's approach, with its emphasis on capturing life as it really is, reinforced with strong natural sounds, maintains the viewer's attention.  The film's beautiful resolution, a harmonious fusion of the spiritual and the corporeal, makes this both a memorable and immensely satisfying work of cinema.

Film Synopsis

The start of July marks the beginning of the summer holidays for Delphine, a young secretary living in Paris, but her plans are ruined when her fiancé Jean-Pierre breaks off their engagement.  With no great enthusiasm, she tags along with her a girlfriend to Cherbourg, but having grown bored she soon makes her way back to Paris.  Delphine's restless soul takes her on to the French Alps, back to Paris and then off to Biarritz.  It is in the latter venue that she hears the tale of the Green Ray. According to the legend, it is by watching the last fleeting shaft of light from the setting sun that you know for certain whether you can trust your feelings for someone else.

Her stay in sunny Biarritz proving to be as tedious and uneventful as her previous sojourns, despite a few days spent in the company of a friendly Scandinavian woman, Delphine soon makes up her mind to return to Paris.  It is now the start of August and her holidays are already at an end.  At the train station, she strikes up an acquaintance with a young carpenter, Vincent, and feels strangely drawn to him.  Unsure whether she can trust her emotions after her previous disappointment in love, Delphine waits until nightfall.  As she watches the sun sink below the horizon she realises that her feelings for Vincent are genuine and that a new romance beckons...