Rohmer, Eric

(1920- )

   Director, film critic, and screenwriter. Eric Rohmer was born Jean-Marie Maurice Schérer. He began his profes-sional life as a teacher and novelist and in cinema circles as a film critic. Before gaining acclaim for his participation in the Nouvelle Vague or New Wave, he published the novel Elizabeth, ou les vacances (1946) under the pseudonym Gilbert Cordier. He wrote influential essays on film, including "Le Cinéma, art de l'espace" (1948) "Pour un cinéma parlant" (1948) in Les temps modernes, and "Celluloid et le marbre" (1955). His criticism was published in both Revue du cinéma and Cahiers du cinéma.

   Rohmer also actively attended ciné-clubs, such as the Ciné-club du Quartier Latin and Objectif 49. He was a cofounder in the early 1950s of Gazette du cinéma, a short-lived publication that featured articles by Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Alexandre Astruc, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Jacques Rivette, among others. In 1957, he published the book Hitchcock with Claude Chabrol. He also replaced André Bazin as editor in chief for Cahiers du cinéma from 1957 to 1963. Though considered a member of the New Wave, Rohmer's career was rather distinct. He was about a decade older than his colleagues and arguably more conservative. Rohmer directed his first short, Journal d'un scélérat, in 1950. From there, he began a period of collaboration with other New Wave directors. He also directed Bérénice (1954), Tous les garçons s'appellent Patrick (1957), and Véronique et son cancre (1958). Chabrol produced Rohmer's feature debut, Le signe du lion (1959), an important, albeit less commercially successful, New Wave film. It was followed by Charlotte et son steak (1960), which was adapted from a short film by Godard and that starred the director. Although Rohmer is now recognized as a key figure in the New Wave, his films were somewhat late in being acknowledged.

   Rohmer's first real acclaim as a filmmaker came after his famous film series categorized as his "Contes moraux," six films that generally involve a male protagonist—often one engaged in unreliable narration—who must chose between two women. The most acclaimed of these is Ma Nuit chez Maude (1969). The five other tales in the 1962-1972 "Contes moraux" series are the shorts La Boulangère de Monceau (1962) and La Carrière de Suzanne (1963) and the features La Collectionneuse (1967), which won the Prix Louis-Delluc, Le Genou de Claire (1970), and L'Amour l'après-midi (1972). Rohmer subsequently won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes for La Marquise d'O (1976). His Perceval le Gallois (1979) was adapted from the romance by the twelfth-century poet Chrétien de Troyes.

   Subsequent to the "Contes Moraux" Rohmer directed the series "Comédies et Proverbes," which focused on the points of view of women protagonists and include La femme de l'aviateur (1981), Le beau mariage (1982), Pauline à la plage (1983), Les nuits de la pleine lune (1984), Le rayon vert (1986), which won a Golden Lion at Venice, and L'ami de mon amie (1987). This was followed by the quartet, "Contes des quatre saisons," composed of Conte de printemps (1990), Conte d'hiver (1992), Conte d'été (1996), and Conte d'automne (1998). He also shot Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (1987), L'arbre, le maire et la médiathèque (1993), L'Anglaise et le duc (2001), and Triple Agent (2004). He was awarded a Career Golden Lion at Venice in 2001.

   Before he was recognized as one of France's most respected directors, Rohmer played a central role in the development of French film criticism. In well over two hundred reviews and essays, he helped to reaffirm the importance of cinema as an art form as he developed theories for interpreting formal and thematic elements of cinema. His films are also known for their philosophical content, often expressed as dialogues between characters who must make personal moral decisions.