colinbellUK I already liked this film a lot having owned it on DVD as part of a great value Rohmer box set. However when the opportunity came up to see it at the cinema today I couldn't pass it up. This film and others by the same director have influenced other films which I like a lot (e.g. Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset) in that there is little action but lots of conversation, some interesting, some banal. I identified strongly with the quiet introvert lead character Delphine, who was misunderstood by her friends and given all sorts of advice on finding a partner which wouldn't be suitable for her at all. The performance by Marie Riviere was wonderful and she contributed to the dialogue too (she has a credit shared). Lots of times she had subtle facial expressions going on which spoke volumes and it made me wish I spoke French as when I kept looking to the subtitles I knew in the time I was reading them I was missing some of those. Even the silences (or just bouts of tears) spoke volumes. I won't reveal too much of the plot except to say it has a hopeful feeling towards the end and the whole thing appealed very much to the romantic in me.

ShootingShark Delphine is lovelorn. She wants a romantic relationship, but finds it hard to socialise or adhere to the conventions of dating. During the summer, she has nobody to vacation with but doesn't like travelling by herself. Is she destined to be alone ?This lovely, thought-provoking little film, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1986, is typical of Rohmer's gentle but insightful drama. Delphine has an age-old problem; she's mature enough to be looking for something more meaningful than sex and partying, but young enough to be self-centred and dismissive of social expectations. When her friends encourage her to loosen up and flirt they just don't get that she wouldn't want to be with anyone she might meet using that strategy. Her frustration is beautifully played by Riviere, and is frequently uncomfortable to watch as she struggles to reconcile her longing with her prickliness and self-doubt. The film is full of richly observed little vignettes, like the dinner-table discussion of vegetarianism, or the central metaphor of the green flash (which is a real meteorological phenomena, as well as an 1886 novel by Jules Verne), and the locations in the Normandy port of Cherbourg and Basque seaside town of Biarritz are terrific. If you are unfamiliar with this gifted and prolific director's work (he made about thirty movies over forty years) this is a good introduction to his unpretentious but absorbing low-key dramas, as is his 1971 classic Le Genou De Claire. I don't think I've ever come across a filmmaker as honest as he is. This was the fifth in his series of six Comédies Et Proverbes works, coming between Les Nuits De La Pleine Lune and L'Ami De Mon Amie. English title - The Green Ray.

Ilpo Hirvonen Eric Rohmer built quite a reputation with his series of 6 films, The Moral Tales, in the 1960-70's. When the new decade came he decided to make a new series of films called Comedies & Proverbs. This series wasn't as consistent as The Moral Tales. The films of Comedies & Proverbs didn't have the same similarity in narrative and themes as The Moral Tales did. Le rayon vert is the fifth film in the series. Its most common translation is Summer, but I prefer the other translation to be more accurate to the context, The Green Ray.Le rayon vert seems to abandon the usual "clean" narrative of Rohmer. It seems like a cruddy documentary at some points, which is of course intentional. The cinematography is beautiful & deep and Eric Rohmer's famous dialog is as sharp as it always is: Intelligent, funny and realistic. He's very talented in creating a realistic situation. He is the master of combining art with reality.Le rayon vert is about a woman named Delphine (Marie Rivière), who hasn't yet found her true love as she hasn't her true self. The film studies a very common subject for French people; holidays. Delphine tries different kind of holidays, at her childhood town, Cherbourg, on the beach and in the city. As she's trying to find a good place to rest, she's finding herself.The character, Delphine is very interesting and we get to know many things about her. For instance we found out, at her childhood place, that she is a vegetarian - first of all the scene is brilliant. Others don't quite seem to understand her diet & lifestyle. She doesn't want to eat meat because it reminds her of blood and heartbeats. She tries to stutter about the glory of salad, the fresh friendship of it.The title, The Green Ray comes directly from a book by Jules Verne, with the same title. The green flash means the last fold ray of the sun from the horizon, which makes one see into one's own and to others' souls. Into the hands of this romantic flash the main characters gives her faith and destiny.A very good film, intelligent and funny, just as the name of the series promises. Le rayon vert starts with a proverb by Rimbaud: "Ah! que les temps vienne Ou les coeurs s'eprennent." The Green Ray is full of symbolism just as the cards and the colors. It also shows some very beautiful shots from the French countryside.8/10 A guaranteed Rohmer piece!

cwarne_uk Eric Rohmer has fashioned a film that perfectly mirrors the main character Delphine. It is by turns annoying, insightful and moving. With improvised dialogue the film has a more naturalistic feel than some of Rohmers other work, he also shows more interest in nature than usual making this one of his more interesting films to look at. Delphine, brilliantly played by Marie Riviere, is lonely (and seemingly pining for her ex-fiancé) and her attempts at a vacation form the body of the film. She travels to various places but not until the end does she find something like happiness. She can be very maddening - ignoring people (presumably because they are "not the right sort" - just plain rude to my mind), and lecturing a family on her vegetarianism as they tuck into lamb chops. She does though seem a very real person, and many viewers will find themselves rooting for her anyway - she is like many people we know in being full of faults but you still like them anyway. The greatest weakness of the film is that for all her self-absorption Rohmer does not really provide any evidence of self-insight or change (a serious fault in that drama is all about characters changing), Delphine talks a lot about her problems but her explanations often struck me as trite. An oddity among his output, this should be seen by any Rohmer fan, I would not recommend it as an introduction though. (The mark of 6 may seem low by inflated IMDb standards but it is relative to Rohmers other films).