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Eric Rohmer

Ten classics from cinema’s master of humanity and compassion.

Like his nouvelle vague colleagues (especially Godard), Rohmer – born Maurice Schérer – had a personal mission. For him, film was the ideal art form for engaging with reality, particularly the inner world of feelings and thoughts. Subtly counterpointing words, gestures, glances and actions, his witty, affecting tales of intelligent, articulate, recognisably ‘ordinary’ people trying to fathom what kind of life and lover they’d like are psychologically astute and profoundly compassionate.

Co-author of a study of Hitchcock, he was adept at suspense; well-versed in the arts, he made his stories of longing and seduction resonate in all sorts of ways. Throughout, Rohmer achieved a rare consistency of subject, tone and quality; like Godard or Ozu, he effectively invented his own genre.

Early in his career, he formed his own company to retain control over his work; working to a low budget, shooting on location with a tiny crew, he composed endlessly inventive variations on a range of themes. His warm, respectful interest in his characters, notwithstanding their flaws, means that his films are a celebration of life in all its mysterious, sensuous, sometimes absurd glory.

This collection includes Rohmer's entire, six-film Comedies and Proverbs series, his mid-career meditation on the dilemmas faced by the young, as well as another four fabulous works from France's master of humanistic, compassionate cinema.

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Pauline at the BeachPauline at the Beach

Comedy198295 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer

Eric Rohmer's final collaboration with the great cinematographer Néstor Almendros follows a holidaying teenager as she begins to navigate the adult world.

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The Aviator's WifeThe Aviator's Wife

Drama1980106 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer

A bittersweet fable about a young man's jealous pursuits; the first film in Eric Rohmer's six-film series, Comedies and Proverbs.

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The Green RayThe Green Ray

Drama198699 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer

Eric Rohmer's masterpiece about a woman chasing romance and adventure during a long, hot summer.

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Four Adventures of Reinette and MirabelleFour Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle

Comedy198699 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer

Eric Rohmer's delightful, episodic account of the blossoming friendship between a gauche, highly opinionated country girl and a more laid-back Parisian student.