As editor of the influential film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, Eric Rohmer was present at the birth of the French New Wave movement in the 1950s. It wasn’t until the late ‘60s, however, that Rohmer became a noteworthy filmmaker in his own right. In the years since he has earned a shelf of international prizes for movies such as My Night at Maud’s and Pauline at the Beach.
Occasionally Rohmer has turned to literary sources. His 2008 film The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (out now on DVD) is an adaptation of a 17th century story by Honore d’Urfe. Rohmer gently places the fantasy between ironic quotation marks: it’s a tale of ancient Gaul as imagined by a writer of the Baroque Age. One expects the Three Graces, accompanied by Cupid, to appear before the shepherds in their verdant fields.
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon is a beautifully filmed, light-hearted story of love and jealousy, guilt and emotional confusion. Released by the time Rohmer turned 88, it may well prove to be a bright, entertaining coda to long and challenging body of work.
