Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987)
"4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle" (original title)

Reinette and Mirabelle are two young girls. Reinette lives in the countryside, Mirabelle in Paris. They meet during a holiday of Mirabelle in the country, when Reinette helps her to repair ... See full summary »

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Writer:

Eric Rohmer

Stars:

Joëlle Miquel, Jessica Forde, Mr. Housseau

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joëlle Miquel	...	Reinette
Jessica Forde	...	Mirabelle
Mr. Housseau	...	Le voisin
Mme. Housseau	...	La voisine
Philippe Laudenbach	...	Le garçon de café
François-Marie Banier	...	1er Passant
Jean-Claude Brisseau	...	2e Passant
Yasmine Haury	...	Kleptomaniac
Gérard Courant	...	L'inspecteur
Béatrice Romand	...	L'inspectrice
Marie Rivière	...	L'arnaqueuse - Swindler
David Rocksavage	...	L'anglais
Jacques Auffray	...	Le tapeur
Haydée Caillot	...	Charitable Lady
Fabrice Luchini	...	Le marchand de tableau

Storyline

Reinette and Mirabelle are two young girls. Reinette lives in the countryside, Mirabelle in Paris. They meet during a holiday of Mirabelle in the country, when Reinette helps her to repair the tube of her bicycle and shows her the beauties of nature and in particular the 'blue hour'. They like each other and decide to take a flat together in Paris, where they'll attend at the University. But isn't so easy to live together when the characters are so different: as Reinette is simple and enthusiastic, as Mirabelle is obscure and lazy.

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Plot Keywords:

waiter | bicycle | culture clash | shoplifter | art dealer | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

19 July 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$5,051 (USA) (22 July 2011)

Gross:

$19,454 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Eric Rohmer (CER), Les Films du Losange

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie contains 4 episodes: 1) L'heures bleue; 2) Le garcon de café; 3) Le mendiant, la kleptomane et l'arnaqueuse; 4) La vente du tableau.

User Reviews

the nadir of Rohmer's work

I'm a huge Rohmer fan. I've seen all of the Moral Tales, the Comedies & Proverbs and the Tales of the Four Seasons. I dislike this particular film tremendously. Along with "Rendez-Vous in Paris," it represents Rohmer at his worst... moralistic, pedantic and amateurish. I've seen better summer camp skits than the bit at the cafe, the scene at the train station and the business at the art gallery. Frankly, with the exception of "The Blue Hour", the project is a wash. Joelle Miquel and Philippe Laudenbach deliver terrible, over-the-top performances, and even the great Fabrice Luchini seems foolish and out of place. Jessica Forde is passable as the jaded town rat. The only stand out (at least in a positive sense) is Marie Riviere who, as always, is entirely believable.

I'm not sure why this project got such a high IMDb rating. I can only think that people like the two-name films ("Celine and Julie", "Fanny and Alexander", etc.) because they sound whimsically playful. Rohmer has an excellent sense of humor (e.g., Conte d'ete, Boyfrends and Girlfriends, etc.), but this is not a delightful little caprice. With the exception of the first 20 minutes or so, it's a student project. Note also the horrendous original electronic music. Rohmer often refrains entirely from the use of music, and this is one case where he should have shown his usual restraint.