Le genou de Claire (1970)

	Directed by: Éric Rohmer	COUNTRY France GENRE Drama ENGLISH TITLE Claire's Knee RUNNING TIME 103 minutes
	Produced by: Pierre Cottrell Barbet Schroder
	Written by: Éric Rohmer

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Jerome	Jean-Claude Brialy
Aurora	Aurora Cornu	½
Laura	Beatrice Romand	½
Claire	Laurence De Monaghan	½
Mme. Walter	Michele Montel
Gilles	Gerard Falconetti	½
Vincent	Fabrice Luchini

Review

Éric Rohmer's fifth of his Six Moral Tales is a talky, intellectually erotic film about Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy), a man in his late thirties, soon to be married, who spends a summer at Lake Annecy with his old friend Aurora, her friend Mme. Walter, and the latter's two teenage girls, Laura and Claire. As Laura is smitten by the mature, experienced man, Jerome himself balances his proclaimed physical self-control with his fascination for female youth in a game of dares orchestrated by the enigmatic writer Aurora. The candid, self-assured openness of Le genou de Claire could only spring from the French New Wave. It's a tribute to art as such, and to film as an art form. The picture is completely without a musical score, but boasts Nestor Almendros' wonderful photography and Rohmer's discussive, unrestrained themes of lust and love – across generations, but never compromising their sense of ethics. Rohmer captures the delicacy of every situation. His film is simple, beautiful, and constantly fascinating, if ultimately overly analytical. Rohmer favourite Beatrice Romand is a complete delight as Laura.