The Bakery Girl of Monceau (1963)
"La boulangère de Monceau" (original title)

Early new wave effort from Rohmer which was the first of his six moral tales. It concerns a young man who approaches a girl in the street, but after several days without seeing her again, ... See full summary »

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Stars:

Barbet Schroeder, Claudine Soubrier, Michèle Girardon

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbet Schroeder	...	Young Man / Narrator
Claudine Soubrier	...	Jacqueline
Michèle Girardon	...	Sylvie

Storyline

Early new wave effort from Rohmer which was the first of his six moral tales. It concerns a young man who approaches a girl in the street, but after several days without seeing her again, he becomes involved with the girl in the local bakery. Eventually he has to choose between them when he arranges dates with them on the same day.

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Plot Keywords:

street | date | pick up | paris france | baker

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Genres:

Romance | Short

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Also Known As:

The Baker of Monceau

Filming Locations:

Monceau, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Losange, Studios Africa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

23 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Young Man: Delicious. I could eat nothing but pastries.
Jacqueline: Me too.

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Connections

Followed by Suzanne's Career (1963)

User Reviews

Very tightly woven short film with a realistic story. Good intro to "Six Moral Tales."

The first of Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" collection is lovely, twenty-five minute short about a young man who must choose between the girl of his longing and another, more attainable girl. The young man in question narrates this short film. On his daily journeys, he encounters a beautiful girl named Sylvie on a regular basis. He begins to fall for her and even stalks her to a point. When he goes several days without seeing her, the young man in question begins to search for her. In his search, he encounters a small bakery. The young man begins a daily routine of entering the bakery for a cookie and the young girl who works there begins to develop feelings for him. Though the young man resists his own feelings at first, he finally decides to ask her out. Trouble results, though, when he runs into Sylvie on that very day.

The Girl at the Monceau Bakery, the first Rohmer film I'd seen, is pretty impressive. In its short (about twenty-five minute) running time, this film manages to weave a story with very believable conflict and quick resolution. This is a very simple film and does not pull any punches. The young narrator is a realistic character: he's a college student with girls on the brain. He isn't mature enough to realize that his own decisions affect others just as much as they affect him. The young man is rather selfish and the moral dilemma that he faces stems from that. The acting here is not bad, but far from first rate. It is, however, a good early achievement from Rohmer. Watching this, I am intrigued to dig deeper into his body of work.

9/10