FULL MOON IN PARIS

Most of Rohmer's heroines are among the most truculent in all cinema. Perhaps only Rohmer himself could love them which might be why their love lives are so disastrous. In "Full Moon in Paris", another of his 'Comedies and Proverbs', Louise lives with Remi but, like Garbo before her, she wants to be alone so she takes a pied-a-terre in Paris. You might say she wants her cake and eat it too and feeling the need for independence she treats the men in her life, (Remi, her 'platonic' friend Octave), like dirt but like many of Rohmer's dim, selfish heroines she doesn't know she's doing it. If anything, it's Louise who thinks she's the victim and as played by Pascale Ogier she's a scintillating little minx, (even if at times you feel that if you were to strangle her no jury would convict you). It's a wonderful performance but then she has wonderful material to work with. Perhaps no other writer/director, with the possible exception of Bergman, wrote better parts for women than Rohmer. And naturally this particular 'comedy and proverb' is very funny. Who else but Rohmer could poke so much fun at his silly heroine yet make her so sympathetic? Of course, it's that full moon in Paris that finally determines just which way our heroine might go; a life of blissful discontentment with Remi, a life of blissful discontentment alone or a life with someone else entirely? Rohmer's little joke is that it takes something as ephemeral as a full moon for Louise to finally make a decision even if that decision finally comes back to bite her. Yes, Rohmer can be very funny but he can be cruel, too. As for the film itself, it's simply a masterpiece.