La Femme de l'aviateur
Encyclopedia
The Aviator's Wife is a 1981 French film written and directed by Éric Rohmer
. The film stars Phillippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière
and Anne-Laure Meury. Like many of his films, it deals with the ever-evolving love lives of a group of young Parisians.
This was the first in Rohmer's "Comedies & Proverbs" series — a collection of six films the director made during the 1980s. Each of these films begins with a proverb, in the case of The Aviator's Wife this is: "On ne saurait penser à rien" or "It is impossible to think about nothing".
Twenty-year-old François (Marlaud) is in love with the fiercely independent 25-year-old Anne (Rivière). One morning, Anne's airline-pilot ex, Christian (Carrière), visits her to tell her that it is over between them and that he will return to his wife. Francois just happens to see the two leave Anne's building together and becomes obsessed by the idea that she is cheating on him.
As he strolls aimlessly through the streets of Paris, he catches sight of Christian in a cafe with another woman. As they leave and jump on a bus Francois decides to follow them. A 15-year-old girl he has never met, Lucie (Anne-Laure Meury) figures out what he is up to and playfully joins in with his amateur espionage.
Throughout the day, their stories and explanations for Christian's action become increasingly complex and outlandish. Eventually, they lose track of Christian in a taxi and they both leave, promising to write to each other if they ever found out what Christian was really up to. Francois returns to Anne where he discovers that all was not as it seemed between Christian and the blonde woman.
Later that night François goes to Lucie's flat seemingly to put a postcard in her mail box. He spots Lucie embracing a young man, obviously returning from a date. He leaves, although stopping to drop the postcard into a mailbox.
and La Marquise d'O...
). At the beginning of the next decade, the director returned to writing his own material and The Aviator's Wife is the first of the "Comedies & Proverbs" series.
praised the film, particularly the acting, whilst others (The New York Times
, for example) did not appreciate the director's trademark passive and deliberately paced shooting style.
Éric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. A figure in the post-war New Wave cinema, he was a former editor of Cahiers du cinéma....
. The film stars Phillippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière
Marie Rivière
Marie Rivière is a French actress. She is one of the preferred actresses of the director Éric Rohmer.From a working class background, Marie Rivière grew up on a housing estate/project in Montreuil before working as a schoolteacher, then as a shop assistant. At 21, having seen L'Amour...
and Anne-Laure Meury. Like many of his films, it deals with the ever-evolving love lives of a group of young Parisians.
This was the first in Rohmer's "Comedies & Proverbs" series — a collection of six films the director made during the 1980s. Each of these films begins with a proverb, in the case of The Aviator's Wife this is: "On ne saurait penser à rien" or "It is impossible to think about nothing".
Plot
A young man who believes his girlfriend is cheating on him with an ex-boyfriend decides to follow his rival through Paris.Twenty-year-old François (Marlaud) is in love with the fiercely independent 25-year-old Anne (Rivière). One morning, Anne's airline-pilot ex, Christian (Carrière), visits her to tell her that it is over between them and that he will return to his wife. Francois just happens to see the two leave Anne's building together and becomes obsessed by the idea that she is cheating on him.
As he strolls aimlessly through the streets of Paris, he catches sight of Christian in a cafe with another woman. As they leave and jump on a bus Francois decides to follow them. A 15-year-old girl he has never met, Lucie (Anne-Laure Meury) figures out what he is up to and playfully joins in with his amateur espionage.
Throughout the day, their stories and explanations for Christian's action become increasingly complex and outlandish. Eventually, they lose track of Christian in a taxi and they both leave, promising to write to each other if they ever found out what Christian was really up to. Francois returns to Anne where he discovers that all was not as it seemed between Christian and the blonde woman.
Later that night François goes to Lucie's flat seemingly to put a postcard in her mail box. He spots Lucie embracing a young man, obviously returning from a date. He leaves, although stopping to drop the postcard into a mailbox.
Production background
After completing his "Six Moral Tales" series in 1972 with L'amour l'apres-midi, Rohmer spent the remainder of the decade filming historical litereary adaptations (see PercevalPerceval
Perceval may refer to*Spencer Perceval, British prime minister*Percival or Perceval, Arthurian knight...
and La Marquise d'O...
La Marquise d'O...
The Marquise of O is a 1976 film directed by Éric Rohmer. Set in 1799, it tells the story of the Marquise von O, a virtuous widow, who finds herself pregnant and protests her innocence while possibly deserving to be exiled. The film was inspired by Heinrich von Kleist's 1808 novel Die Marquise von O...
). At the beginning of the next decade, the director returned to writing his own material and The Aviator's Wife is the first of the "Comedies & Proverbs" series.
Cast
- Phillipe Marlaud as François
- Marie RivièreMarie RivièreMarie Rivière is a French actress. She is one of the preferred actresses of the director Éric Rohmer.From a working class background, Marie Rivière grew up on a housing estate/project in Montreuil before working as a schoolteacher, then as a shop assistant. At 21, having seen L'Amour...
as Anne - Anne-Laure Meury as Lucie
- Mathieu CarrièreMathieu CarrièreMathieu Carrière is a German actor.Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school Lycée Saint-François-Xavier in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's first major film, Volker Schlöndorff. In 1969 Carrière moved to...
as Christian - Mary Stephen as Canadian Tourist
Reception
As with most of Rohmer's output, the critical reception was mixed. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
praised the film, particularly the acting, whilst others (The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, for example) did not appreciate the director's trademark passive and deliberately paced shooting style.