Written and directed by Eric Rohmer. With Amanda Langlet, Arielle
Dombasle, Pascal Greggory, Fedor Atkine, Simon de la Brosse, Rosette..
Director Eric Rohmer explores the complicated romantic entanglements of six people on a summer holiday on the Normandy coast. Marion, played by Arielle Dombasle, is recently divorced and says she won't settle for anything but a meaningful relationship. Pursued by an old flame who adores her, she takes up instead with a seductive hypocrite who also pursues a local candy merchant. Pauline (Amanda Langlet) and her first boyfriend observe these adults weave love, sex and grand romance into a completely foolish (and often humorous) tangle. They in fact display greater wisdom than their more experienced elders.
This is a fun movie, although not a very serious plot or subject matter. As is typical of other Rohmer films, a lesson comes with the story. Here, the lesson maybe that youthful insight might be more honest than adult experience. At times the movie is slow, but conflict, sex and the beauty of Normandy's coastline make the movie move along.
Amanda Langlet also plays Margot in Eric Rohmer's A Summer's Tale (1995), which carries similar themes to the Brittany coast, where a young man juggles relationships with three new girlfriends during a stay on the seashore.
Seattle Times review of Eric Rohmer's Autumn Tale.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/entertainment/html98/autu_19990723.html
Chicago Sun Times review of Eric Rohmer's A Tale of Springtime.
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1992/11/787811.html
Review of A summer's tale.
http://sfiff.org/fest98/programs/summer.html