Autumn Tale (1998, Eric Rohmer) (Patreon)

74/100

Third viewing, last seen 1999. Mortified now by my writeup from NYFF '98, which boiled down to (a) Rohmer's films are consistently excellent and (b) this one features middle-aged women, so there's nobody for me to swoon over, as there usually is. (My principal lust object at age 20 was 42-year-old Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, so I can only retroactively say: Huh?) Came to my senses by the following year, when I included Autumn Tale on my top 10 list, but I still only deemed the latter assessment "uncharitable," whereas today I would call it "batshit insane." Not only are Romand and Rivière both highly attractive (in deliberately contrasting ways), but the film's pseudo-farcical structure hinges on Gérald finding himself drawn to Magali, his intended date, while still emotionally entangled with her secret proxy, Isabelle. Having rewatched this film and The Aviator's Wife in quick succession, I'm noticing—and marveling at—Rohmer's tendency to engineer conventional plots which he resolves in unconventional, even deliberately frustrating ways. But while Aviator's Wife merely disregards its scenario's most obvious trajectory, Autumn Tale goes to the trouble of constructing a classically intricate series of deceptions, cross-purposes, and misunderstandings, none of which quite pay off. The anticipated contest at the wedding between Gérald and Etienne for Magali's favor fizzles out before it even really gets started, with neither Isabelle nor Rosine ever discovering that she had a rival matchmaker. And Magali twice rejects what looks like a guaranteed happy ending for her, though the second time it's clearly more of a postponement. I'm still a bit torn between admiring the perversity and feeling disappointed by the absence of farce's satisfying click, but the film is too thoroughly delightful overall not to embrace, and Rohmer chose locations so gorgeously verdant that there's hardly even any need to get hot and bothered over his actors. Nevertheless, Younger Me's getting a hard slap if I stumble onto a time machine. (Then he's getting shown this photo.)