“A Tale of Winter”: Eric Rohmer’s ode to chance

Rhyming with words and colors

Eric Rohmer, when he was a critic, raised serious doubts about the idea that speaking only on the screen without using words is considered a virtue of film expression . * 1) Rather, we can see here that contemporary filmmakers are determined to redefine words and sounds in film. Eric Rohmer is a filmmaker who spent his life exploring the redefinition of words and sounds. If we consider A Tale of Winter in this context, the practice of Eric Rohmer is reflected in the coincidence that emerges between Félicie's unexpected words and Loïc's words learned from a book.

Félicie, who claims to be uneducated, often makes mistakes in her words, and is corrected by her friends every time she does so. However, in Félicie's words, Loïc, an intellectual, has already learned the knowledge and philosophy he obtained from books through his life experiences. Loïc is shocked by this. Loïc, who, as Félicie says, ``can find a source even in whispers of love,'' is probably feeling deeply frustrated by the unexpected ``philosophy'' that Félicie has acquired.

“A Tale of Winter” ©1991 Les Films du Losange

It is said that most of Eric Rohmer's scripts do not have a tread line. The script consists only of dialogue. It is said that the story is written in such a way that you can understand the setting of the situation just by looking at the dialogue. Eric Rohmer's practice is clearly reflected in his approach to making films as an extension of his real life. Daily life of walking around the streets of Paris and observing the way people speak. I have remained committed to a small staff throughout my life. The process involves harmonizing lines and gestures to suit the actor's background. For most of his works, he did not have an art person in charge, and created the interior and other decorations himself.

Just as the floral-patterned wallpaper in `` Spring Sonata '' (1989) rhymed with the two young women and the outside scenery, the color design of ``A Tale of Winter'' is mainly comprised of grays and browns. In this work, the color design goal was to reproduce the gray that can only be seen in Paris. Just as Shakespeare's A Tale of Winter , which Félicie and Loïc attend, is a foreshadowing, the words and colors in Eric Rohmer's films begin to rhyme with the story. Eric Rohmer's life is often said to be shrouded in mystery, but one thing is certain: he drew great inspiration from his daily life and the filmmaking process. Therein lies Eric Rohmer's ``Taste of Beauty.''