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Autumn Tale (1998)
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Synopsis: In Eric Rohmer's AUTUMN TALE, two match-making schemes go awry, both at the expense of Magali (Béatrice Romand), an unassuming middle-aged widow. Her best friend and neighbor, Isabelle (Marie Rivière), places a personal ad in the paper, and reels in Gérard (Alain Libolt), who she hopes will... In Eric Rohmer's AUTUMN TALE, two match-making schemes go awry, both at the expense of Magali (Béatrice Romand), an unassuming middle-aged widow. Her best friend and neighbor, Isabelle (Marie Rivière), places a personal ad in the paper, and reels in Gérard (Alain Libolt), who she hopes will be the perfect new husband for the lonesome Magali. But Isabelle does not reveal her plan to Magali. And, little does she know, Rosine (Alexia Portal)--the girlfriend of Magali's son--wants to set her up with her philosophy professor, Etienne (Didier Sandre). When all of these cupids and potential mates come together, the result is not true love, but confusion, chaos, and--the token of all of Rohmer films--conversation. With beautiful, long, pensive shots on the small village in southern France with its bold, stately chateaus set off by Magali's craggy, intricate vineyard, the film weaves together personalities, points of view, and positions in life. As each character reveals, through language or simple inflection, his or her position on love, work, longevity, and life itself, the film unfurls like a simple, well-choreographed dance. AUTUMN TALE is the fourth and final film in Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons series. [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Marie Rivière, Béatrice Romand, Alain Libolt, Didier Sandre, Alexia Portal
Reviews
The film is delightfully unpredictable, warm, nuanced. It's civilized entertainment.
Terrific performances and masterful direction make this a warm delight for art-minded viewers.
With this romance, the director, now in his late 70s, completes his Tales of Four Seasons quartet on a hopeful note. Although slight in plot and slow in pace, the film offers much to admire.
This French film is a quietly interesting but unusually perceptive story about love and relationships.
The 79-year-old writer-director proves that age has only purified his special ability to mine emotional truth from tiny moments with exquisite finesse.
t's another enjoyable comedy of manners that seems both highly original, and, at the same time, pleasantly familiar.
In this enchanting film, our hearts go out to these well-meaning women who want only the best for the friend they love.
Though you wouldn't know it from Hollywood's kids 'r us obsessions, directors actually can improve as they advance in age.
The generation gap between heart and mind and youth and maturity is sharply underscored in this introspective study, with Libolt a standout as the dating game's befuddled, charming pawn.
As sublimely warming an experience as the autumn sun that shines benevolently on the vineyard owned by the film's central character, Magali.


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