Éric Rohmer: a biography PDF
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Éric Rohmer Columbia University Press / New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © Editions Stock 2014 English translation © 2016 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Baecque, Antoine de author. | Herpe, Noël author. | Rendall, Steven, translator. | Neal, Lisa (Lisa Dow), translator. Title: Éric Rohmer : a biography / Antoine de Baecque and Noël Herpe ; translated from the French by Steven Rendall and Lisa Neal. Other titles: Éric Rohmer. English Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Includes filmography. Identifiers: LCCN 2015041586 | ISBN 9780231175586 (cloth) Subjects: LCSH: Rohmer, Éric, 1920-2010. | Motion picture producers and directors—France—Biography. Classification: LCC PN1998.3.R64 B3413 2016 | DDC 791.4302/33092—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041586 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover design: Andrew Kopietz Cover image: © Robin Holland/Corbis Outline Contents The Mysteries of “le grand Momo” 1 1. Maurice Schérer’s Youth: 1920–1945 5 2. From Schérer to Rohmer: 1945–1957 30 3. Under the Sign of Leo: 1959–1962 101 4. Under the Sign of Cahiers: 1957–1963 119 5. The Laboratory Period: 1963–1970 167 6. Four Moral Tales: 1966–1972 213 7. On Germany and the Pleasure of Teaching: 1969–1994 258 8. In Pursuit of Perceval: 1978–1979 307 9. Six Comedies and Proverbs: 1980–1986 321 (cid:2) vi Contents 10. The Rohmer of the Cities and the Rohmer of the Countryside: 1973–1995 379 11. In the Rhythm of the Seasons: 1989–1998 434 12. Filming History: 1998–2004 475 13. A Tale of Winter: 2006–2007 518 14. In Pain: 2001–2010 540 Notes 555 Index 613 Éric Rohmer The Mysteries of “le grand Momo” W hat do we know about Éric Rohmer? Certain films are highly esteemed by film aficionados: My Night at Maud’s, Claire’s Knee, The Marquise of O, Full Moon in Paris, A Tale of Summer, The Lady and the Duke . . . A broader audience knows that Rohmer liked to film very young women—the so-called Rohmériennes— sometimes presenting them as symbols of the period, simultaneously charm- ing, revelatory, and annoying. He also introduced a few actors who went on to have successful careers: Fabrice Luchini, Pascal Greggory, and others. Abroad, Rohmer seemed to embody a very French way of filmmaking. But is it known, for example, that taken all together his twenty-five full- length films attracted more than eight million spectators in France, and several million more around the world? Éric Rohmer was not a pure product of Saint- Germain-des-Prés chic who made a limited number of films that were snobbish in a very Parisian way. In his work, sophisticated plots and delicacy of feeling went hand in hand with a classical ideal: their expression of emotions, their nar- ratives, and their direction made his films capable of moving a broad audience while at the same time recording and expressing a certain atmosphere of the time in a critical or ironic mode. Do people also know that another man, Maurice Schérer, was hidden behind the pseudonym Éric Rohmer, which he adopted when he was more than thirty years old? That was the source of the nickname—“le grand Momo”— that some of his oldest friends were to continue to use until the end of his life. He liked secrecy. More than that, it was probably the true passion of his
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