La Collectionneuse
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Movie Reviews of La Collectionneuse
Movie Review: Fascinating and subtly profound
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this DVD mainly to practice my French, determined to disregard the English subtitles. But I found myself so absorbed in the characters and plot that I ended up reading the English to make sure I didn't miss anything. I'll view it again later for the practice. I've always liked Rohmer. His characters are always articulate, eccentric, but oh so human. The women and men in this parable about the meaning of human relationships and our need for other people are all bright and sexy in that unique French way. The setting in the South of France was intoxicating--brilliant splashes of sun, acres of clear, clean beaches and water. The journey of self-discovery for the man in the film was moving and inspiring, as he began to understand that he needed more in his life than to spend his life as a collector, referring to both his work as a collector of antiques and his own promiscuity. He returns from his extended vacation a new man. Don't expect a lot of action here, but a sexy little tale of self-discovery. Not an adult movie, but certainly a movie for adults.Movie Review: Essential French cinema: Rohmer's 'La Collectionneuse.'
Summary: 4 Stars
Éric Rohmer (1920) challenged traditional Hollywood cinema with his French New Wave cycle of films, Six Moral Tales ("Contes moraux"). Inspired by F.W. Murnau's Sunrise, each "tale" follows the same basic story: a man is tempted a woman, but he ultimately resists the temptation.
Set in Saint-Tropez, the fourth of Eric Rohmer's "tales," The Collector (La Collectionneuse) (1967), tells the story of two friends, Adrien (Patrick Bauchau) and Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle), who do their best to resist a promiscuous, bohemian girl, Haydée (Haydée Politoff), who is collecting lovers. Rohmer's first color film in the cycle (filmed by Néstor Almendros) ventures into darker moral territory. This film is transcendent.
G. Merritt
Movie Review: Moral Tales #3
Summary: 4 Stars
The third entry in Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" series, shot in colour on 16mm. Those who can't get into Rohmer's other films certainly aren't going to have their minds changed by this one; indeed, some who have enjoyed the later moral tales, the comedies and proverbs, or the tales of the four seasons may even find "La Collectionneuse" excessively cerebral in both conception and execution. It's neither top-drawer Rohmer nor his weakest.Movie Review: Eric Rohmer's Collector Girl, 3.5 stars
Summary: 3 Stars
After an hour into this film, the viewer begins to fantasize about punching these smug, pretentious self-absorbed creeps in the face. Yes, the girl too. She's not good enough of an actress to bring off her character. There is no hint of real intelligence there, just naivete. The male characters are some of the most loathsome in Rohmer's body of work. Everyone in the film suffers from a mild case of sociopathic narcissism... but isn't that one of the delights of Rohmer? His dialogue is as witty and sharp as in anything else he's done but at the same time the film lacks the charm of his other work as well as the gravitas of My Night At Maud's for example. The cinematography is rich and evocative of the environment as one would expect from Nestor Almendros. The film's style is light and breezy enough to be eminently watchable even when all the characters are acting like jerks. That people like this exist is depressing yet true. Deep down they all hate themselves, one can be sure of that.
I would have actually preferred the whole film to be about the male lead and his self-absorption. Have him spend a month at the villa and the beach, sticking to his set goal of doing nothing, thinking nothing, while musing philosophically via narration. That would have been quite an effort for Rohmer to pull off. Of course he wanted to go the route of the moral dilemma or comedy and introduce the girl and raise up some conflict. Whatever... this is one of the weaker efforts from this director but still worthwhile for lovers of French cinema.
Movie Review: The weak link in the Six Moral Tales
Summary: 3 Stars
Although much aclaimed on its first release, seen today La Collectionneuse seems easily the weakest link in Eric Rohmer's series of Six Moral Tales. While it does take the series into darker territory, its insufferably smug male leads and the hideous droning delivery of the female lead (who ties with Marie-France Pisier for the most annoying voice in French cinema) make it a real chore to watch at times. The fact that it's the film that Neil LaBute has spent a career remaking hardly warmed me to it either. Yes, it's about superficial people, but it skims perilously close to becoming as superficial as they are by overindulging their sense of self-importance. For cameo spotters, Performance director Donald Cammell can be briefly glimpsed in the film's St. Tropez scenes.