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

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Writers:

(more)

Genre:

Romance | Short

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Street | Date | Pick Up | Paris France | Baker

Cast

Barbet Schroeder	...	Young Man / Narrator
Claudine Soubrier	...	Jacqueline
Michèle Girardon	...	Sylvie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Junk	...	(uncredited)
Michel Mardore	...	(uncredited)
Bertrand Tavernier	...	Young Man / Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Eric Rohmer

Writing credits
Eric Rohmer		(written by) uncredited

Produced by
G. Derocles	....	producer
Barbet Schroeder	....	producer

Cinematography by
Bruno Barbey
Jean-Michel Meurice

Film Editing by
Jackie Raynal		(uncredited)
Eric Rohmer		(uncredited)

Production Companies

• Les Films du Losange
• Studios Africa

Distributors

• Artificial Eye (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Gaumont/Columbia TriStar Home Video (GCTHV) (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Kinokuniya (2003) (Japan) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"La boulangère de Monceau" - France (original title)
"The Baker of Monceau" - USA (informal alternative title)
"The Girl at the Monceau Bakery" - USA (literal English title)

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U

Filming Locations:

Monceau, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films du Losange

Movie Connections:

Followed by My Night at Maud's (1969)

Like a practice film....

This is a short film by Eric Rohmer--and the first of his six so-called 'Morality Tales'. Unlike some of his later films, this one seems much more like a typical French New Wave film--with its unusual camera work (looking more like an amateur film at times), use of natural settings and unusual style.

"The Bakery Girl of Monceau" begins with a young man noticing a pretty lady as he walked to college. He's interested in her but they don't know each other at all--and he's working up the courage to talk to her. Eventually, he bumps into her and they talk a bit. He asks her out for coffee but she declines--but tells him she'd be willing in the future. The problem, however, is that for some time he returns to his daily route and doesn't see her. Instead, however, he becomes interested in a girl who works in a bakery. What will become of this and will the original girl return?

While I know that many love Rohmer and New Wave films, this one seems like it's more a practice film than a finished product. It's incredibly mundane--to the point of almost being banal. Because of this, it's not for the casual viewer--and a film that is really impossible to rate.