duminică, 21 mai 2017

Le Genou De Claire aka Claire’s Knee, written and directed by Éric Rohmer

Le Genou De Claire aka Claire’s Knee, written and directed by Éric Rohmer

A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:


Claire’s Knee is a fabulous chef d’oeuvre.
It is thought provoking, philosophical and charming.

The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made includes it:


Éric Rohmer has Chloe in The Afternoon also listed with these works of art.
The story reminds me of Lolita, at least for some passages.

-          Jean-Claude Brialy plays Jerome, Aurora Cornu has the role of…Aurora, Beatrice Romand is Laura
-          Fabrice Luchini, an actor that I admire a lot, has his first important, if supporting role of his career

Jerome is a cultural attaché and has a house near Lake Annecy.
This is where he meets again Aurora.

They have had a relationship that Aurora talks about when Jerome was a diplomat in…Bucharest and she was living there.
It seems to me that both the character and the actress are or have something Romanian, although searching on the web I found nothing on the matter.

The two friends share stories, both real and imagined, for Aurora is a writer who asks for advice from her Belami.

They have a conversation with Laura, who is a teenager and her mother that is single now and separated from an ex-husband, while the other has died.

Even if showing an intelligence that is beyond her age, Laura is still too innocent and naïve to be implicated in games…

-          Games People Play by Eric Berne is a classic of psychology

After this first communication, the writer seems to be provoking events in order to find inspiration and material for her works.
She insists that Laura told her she loves Jerome and when the latter dismisses this information, Aurora becomes encouraging.

It is an uneasy, outré, awkward part of the film.
This rapprochement is illegal in most civilized countries that call it statutory rape, if intimacy takes place.

Sure, this is taking place decades ago, the film was produced in 1970 and I am not sure if anything really happens.

-          That is I know, but for reasons of spoilers and the like I can’t say anything

Laura and Jerome do take a hike together, for a good many hours, even if her mother has some doubts.
In conversation, she does say that it looks somewhat inappropriate given that her daughter has a special interest in Jerome.

As a parent, I wouldn’t have gone away and allowed it in spite of all that.
Nevertheless, the conversations between the older man and the teenager are extremely interesting and elevated

Love is compared with friendship.

Jerome says that they are basically one and the same, while Laura wants something exceptional, in the manner of a knight in shining armor.
The film is phenomenal.

Here is a quote:

“Jerome: Every woman has her most vulnerable point. For some, it's the nape of the neck, the waist, and the hands. For Claire, in that position, in that light, it was her knee.
Jerome: The turmoil she arouses in me gives me a sort of right over her.”




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