Les amours d'Astrée et de Céladon (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Writers:

Honoré d'Urfé (novel)
Eric Rohmer (adaptation)

Release Date:

15 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A romantic drama centered around a young shepherd and shepherdess and the ramifications of their forbidden affair.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Shepherd | River | Oath | Druid

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Andy Gillet	...	Céladon
Stéphanie Crayencour	...	Astrée
Cécile Cassel	...	Léonide
Véronique Reymond	...	Galathée
Rosette	...	Sylvie
Jocelyn Quivrin	...	Lycidas
Mathilde Mosnier	...	Phillis
Rodolphe Pauly	...	Hylas
Serge Renko	...	Adamas
Arthur Dupont	...	Semyre
Priscilla Galland	...	Amynthe
Olivier Blond	...	Un berger
Alexandre Everest	...	Un berger
Fanny Vambacas	...	Une bergère
Caroline Blotière	...	Une bergère

Also Known As:

Gli amori di Astrea e Celadon (Italy)
Romance of Astrea and Celadon (Canada: English title)
Romance of Astree and Celadon (USA) (festival title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

France | Italy | Spain

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PG | Taiwan:PG-12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Auvergne, France

Company:

Rézo Productions

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2007 (#07, tied with "Honor de cavalleria" and "Avant que j'oublie")

Blissful

I love Rohmer's films - about people in love who talk too much about being in love - but wasn't sure how I'd take this one. Not to worry. It's the distilled essence of the other films, an abstraction of them. The characters in those films are always less deep than they believe. Part of the pleasure is seeing them brought back to normal humanity. Here the characters start out shallow and stay there. The lovers are lovers and nothing more. Their love is a given. The complications are perfunctory, as is the resolution. In the middle of this shallowness, Rohmer gives us a philosophical conversation that is basically about the Trinity (Druid-style, to be sure) and the oneness of the multiple gods, and another conversation about the oneness of lovers. And then the resolution has Celadon becoming Astrea and then Astrea and Celadon becoming one, so the shallow story becomes a reflection of divinity.

I loved the pastoral setting. The countryside is beautiful - flowers in almost every shot - without having its beauty forced on you. The sound is live and dense - human conversation embedded in the natural noise of water and birds. Yet the characters, especially the nymphs, felt something like Rohmer's modern Parisians without seeming alien from their setting. It's a masterful touch.

This is not my favorite Rohmer, of course. But it's a wonderful way for him to sum up his career and to say au revoir or even adieu.