A TALE OF WINTER: One of Eric Rohmer's best makes its U.S. DVDebut this week -- in hi-def!

Another of Eric Rohmer's films that managed to get by me in its theatrical debut, A TALE OF WINTER is surely one of this master's best -- for folk who love listening to intelligent dialog, often in argument form, about some of life's great mysteries, in this case love and faith. Whatever your personal take on the latter (mine is agnostic), the joy of the late M. Rohmer can be found in how he gives most of his characters the opportunity to talk (and talk and talk) about how they feel and think, on whatever subject, as honestly as possible. In these days of less and less intelligent talk in films, this is bracing and often thrilling.

In this movie from 1992, we're hit immediately with something unusual from Rohmer: a hot sex scene and even a little full-frontal, as our heroine and (so we imagine) hero, frolic at the seashore and in bed. Then they must part, but only briefly, as she heads for Paris and he to... well, eventually we learn where and why.

What we saw at the beginning was indeed love, we soon learn, and our heroine, the thoughtful, bold, annoying and caring Félicie (played quite intensely and memorably by Charlotte Véry) is now seen five years later, embroiled in relationships with two different men, neither of them who seem particularly suitable for Félicie. Plus, she has a little five-year-old daughter (played by a charmer and one-film wonder named Ava Loraschi, above, center).

We meet and spend some time (and conversation, of course) with those two men (Hervé Furic, above, and Michel Voletti, below), and our vote would go to M. Furic to gain Félicie's hand, as his conversation is a hell of a lot more interesting that that of M. Voletti, who plays a hairdresser.

But, no, the young lady is a holdout for true love, and over time she does a pretty fair job of explaining exactly why. Some of the dialog (between Félicie and her sister) may sound a bit adolescent, but much of it between the rest of the cast (including friends of the Furic character and Félicie's mother) is smart, caring and important regarding the ways in which we think about and act upon "love."

If, in the end, we rather suspect what will happen, how it happens is quite wonderfully brought to life -- almost as wonderful as the brilliant scene from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (above) that is played out in front of us (and Félicie) at a theater performance. The magic of that scene, together with the similar magic of the film's finale, more than make up for any longueurs along the way.

A Tale of Winter -- from Big World Pictures and running 114 minutes -- hits the street on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14. 

On the heels of its U.S. theatrical debut, a hi-def DVD release of Eric Rohmer's A SUMMER'S TALE

What a joy for Eric Rohmer fans here in the USA to finally be able to see one of the loveliest of his several "tales," some 18 years after its original release throughout the rest of the world. Why A SUMMER'S TALE never made it here in any kind of theatrical release is a mystery to me, as his films have proven perennially popular on the U.S. arthouse circuit. No matter, since Big World Pictures, a relatively new distributor, has seen to it that the film had its belated theatrical release this past summer and now arrives on DVD.

Another surprise: the movie stars the popular French actor Mevil Poupaud as a young man named Gaspard who begins the film semi-love-sick over one girl and eventually finds himself saddled -- due to his own hesitation, naivete, hypocrisy and sheer fear -- with two more. As usual, with Rohmer (the late filmmaker is shown at right), character is all, and I mean this is both senses of the word. Rohmer's movies are always character, rather than plot, driven. And it is the character of those characters that is most important. What kind of people are these, and how does this reflect on their actions and the consequences of same?

What a treat it is to see the handsome M. Poupaud (above, left, and below, right) at such a young age, as well as meeting the three attractive, intelligent and spunky young women with whom his character becomes involved. The first is a waitress (Amanda Langlet, above, right, whom many of us may have originally met as the youngster in Rohmer's earlier Pauline at the Beach). The scenes of dialog these two characters share are memorable indeed: witty, off-the-cuff, quite real and yet like little we've seen or heard elsewhere (except maybe in another Rohmer film).

The second young woman, Solene -- a knockout job by the beautiful Gwenaëlle Simon, above, left -- is immediately attracted to our boy, though he insists that girls this hot never are. They make a fine couple, never more so than when she is singing one of the songs he has recently composed (a rather nice one, too).

Ah, but then his supposed true lady love shows up (Aurelia Nolin, above, left) and proves to be... ah, but little surprises like this are part of what make Rohmer's films such fun. Again, character is all. And what interesting, well differentiated and thoroughly frustrating/captivating people this foursome proves to be.

As usual, morality -- not so much in terms of what the common populous might judge it, but how our ideas and behavior impact on those closest to us -- comes into question, and the filmmaker, via his terrific dialog and situations, lets us make our own judgments on characters and outcome.

The DVD of A Summer's Tale -- running 114 minutes -- hits the street this coming Tuesday, November 18, and is of course a don't-miss for Rohmer fans and probably an excellent place to begin for those who've yet to know his work.