Rohmer, Eric

Rohmer, Eric (1920- ), French film director, born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer. Rohmer, one of the founders of the French nouvelle vague (New Wave), was for six years the editor of the influential and radical film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma.

When Rohmer began to direct his own feature films he developed a deceptively simple style. Announced as a cycle of “Moral Tales”, Rohmer’s films dealt with men and women whose attempts to analyse their own behaviour are often at odds with their actions. Rohmer was concerned not with traditional plots and dramas but with the small and intimate details of relationships and the psychology of his characters. La Collectionneuse (1967), Ma Nuit Chez Maud (1969), Le Genou de Claire (1970; Claire’s Knee), and L’Amour l’Après-Midi (1972; Chloë in the Afternoon) all deal with these themes. In 1980 Rohmer embarked, with La Femme de l’Aviateur (The Aviator’s Wife), on a new cycle of films he called “Comedies and Proverbs”, and, in 1990, with Conte de Printemps (A Tale of Springtime), he announced yet another cycle, “Tales of Four Seasons”, which has since included Conte d’Hiver (1992; A Winter’s Tale), Conte d’Été (1996; A Summer’s Tale), and Conte d'Automne (1998; An Autumn Tale), which won the Sergio Trasatti Award—Special Mention at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. Rohmer’s 1995 film Les Rendezvous de Paris, comprising three short pieces shot on 16-mm film, highlights his continual capacity to maintain the low-budget simplicity and directness of his earliest films, while L'Anglaise et le Duc (2001; The Lady and the Duke) used the latest in digital technology to recreate Revolutionary Paris to remarkable effect. His most recent film is the 1930s-set espionage drama Triple Agent (2004).

Rohmer’s work has involved some of the best characterizations of women, their concerns, and dreams in the contemporary cinema.