(aka "A Tale of Springtime" or "Contes des quatre saisons: Conte de printemps")
directed by Eric Rohmer
France 1990
In
acclaimed director Eric Rohmer's first of the "Tales of the Four
Seasons" series: 1992's "Tale of Springtime", four
characters intertwine in real-life cadence. We are introduced to
them, garner their likes, dislikes, demeanours... and then they
interact. It's that simple... and that wonderful. Typical Rohmer.
At a party, Jeanne and Natacha sit beside each other on a couch and
begin to converse. Regardless of their age difference, they
immediately develop a rapport that develops a budding friendship.
Begin plot.
We learn of Natacha's family life with separated parents and a
dysfunctional relationship with her estranged Mother. She lives with
her father and has an unhealthy bias against her fathers current
girlfriend, Eve. On the other hand Jeanne is more guarded and
divulges only hidden details of the state of her current life. A
boyfriend who is away, and a female cousin and beau utilizing her
apartment. She curiously relates her dislike of her traveling
boyfriends unclean apartment where she has the key to stay but would
prefer not to.
So Jeanne sleeps over at Natacha's home that night and her Father
unexpectedly arrives the next morning embarrassingly finding Jeanne
recently finished a hot shower. We are teased in believing this to
be a foreshadowing of future indiscretions between these characters.
Hmmm.. food for thought.
This film is filled with magnificent outdoor scenes of gardens and
forests, as well as expected Rohmerian French babes. This
character-based slice-of-life draws you into it's relaxed atmosphere
of realism with perfect affinity. NOTE: I did note one rather
unusual aspect of the film that is uncharacteristically Rohmer: the
use of background music is pretty taboo, usually making use of only
"natural sounds" from the activities occurring onscreen. Rohmer was
a director born out of the experimental French New Wave era and has
his own very specific criterion for making films: no over
utilization of cinematography adaptations such as tracking shots,
jump cuts or reverse angles. He feels this spartan cinematic
experience subtly conveys to the viewer the ability to identify more
closely with the characters and more intimately with the plot and
storyline. I agree and "Tale of Springtime" is a prime example with
one four minute conversation filmed by one camera with no cutaways
or close-ups. However, like Russian cinema icon Andrei Tarkovsky,
who was philosophically against music interludes, Rohmer still uses
them in this film. The tracks used from the opening scene to various
car ride sequences are:
Beethoven's Sonata #5 in F Major
Jean Louis Valero's Montmorency Blues
Schumann's Les Chants de l'aube
and Etudes symphoniques by Cecile Vigna
Quote
from Eric Rohmer:
"To put it bluntly, I have to admit that I do not like music. I
try very hard to eliminate it from my life and from my films. It
irritates me, it annoys me, it tires me, and despite the old saying,
it neither improves my morals nor sweetens my temper. I find myself
quite at ease in silence. It doesn't oppress me. For this silence,
whether among the fields or in a distant street, offers a
sound-picture that is "sui generis", revealing just as much about a
place as how it smells. Music broadcast in public places is already
damnable because it removes some of their personality. But at the
same time that it injures its environment, it sins also against
itself, in preventing us, by its imposed and superimposed presence,
from listening to it as it deserves to be, that is, in a state of
complete recollection. Music, for me, is only bearable if you listen
to it with the maximum attention, both with mind and body." --
Preface to De Mozart en Beethoven FROM
HERE
There is a philosophical discussion, a conflict, a rejected lothario
advance, a forgiven friendship and a missing necklace mystery
solved. In the finale, Jeanne returns to her now vacated apartment
greeted with fresh flowers discarding the dying ones left behind.
The circle of life completes itself and Eric Rohmer has again
titillated my hypothalamus with his subtlety and powerful emotive
transference. Not my favorite Rohmer film, but still another
noteworthy work from this master auteu
Posters
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Theatrical Release: France 4 April 1990
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC
Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg and Per-olof Strandberg for the Screen Caps!
(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
DVD Box Covers |
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Distribution |
Artificial-Eye Region 2 - PAL |
MGM Region 1 - NTSC |
Runtime | 1:42:42 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:47:12 |
Video |
1:1.66 Original Aspect Ratio |
1:1.66 Original Aspect Ratio |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Artificial-Eye
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Bitrate:
MGM
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Audio | French (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
French (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
Subtitles | English, None | English, Spanish, French, None |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Artificial-Eye Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 14 |
Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: 05/03
2002 Chapters 16 |
Comments: |
A Tale of Springtime (1990) is the first
part of Tales of Four Seasons. The others: A
Winter's Tale (1992) A Summer's Tale (1996) and An Autumn Tale
(1998) are available
from Artificial-Eye as separate DVD's or in a box set
HERE.
The MGM (R1): |
DVD Menus
(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL -
LEFT vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Artificial-Eye - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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