Claire's Knee (1970)

On lakeside summer holiday, a conflicted older man is dared to have a flirt with two beautiful teenage stepsisters despite his betrothal to a diplomat's daughter and the fact that the girls have boyfriends.

Director:

Éric Rohmer

Writer:

Éric Rohmer

Stars:

Jean-Claude Brialy, Aurora Cornu, Béatrice Romand

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Jerome
Aurora Cornu	...	Aurora, the novelist
Béatrice Romand	...	Laura
Laurence de Monaghan	...	Claire
Michèle Montel	...	Madame Walter
Gérard Falconetti	...	Gilles
Fabrice Luchini	...	Vincent
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sandra Franchina

Storyline

In this talky lighthearted slow-paced melodrama, Jerome, a cultural attache, spends his last summer holidays as a bachelor at Lake Annecy where he meets Aurora, an Italian writer and old friend. She talks him into a flirt with his landlady's teenage daughter, Laura, which he indulges in until he meets and falls for Laura's blonde half-sister Claire and develops a desire to caress her knee. Jerome eventually dares to try his luck with Claire, only to realize that, unlike with Laura, his affections this time are mostly one-sided.

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Plot Keywords:

mini skirt | lolita | teenager | sexual fetish | love triangle | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

21 February 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Claire's Knee

Filming Locations:

Lac d'Annecy, Annecy, Haute-Savoie, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Losange

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Without counting a picture frame seen from the distance, the title character's first appearance takes place after 47 minutes into the film.

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Goofs

The shadow of the boom mic is visible on the ground when Amber and Laura sit in the meadow, and then is seen on her shirt as she stands.

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Quotes

Aurora, the novelist: Writing forces me to keep my eyes open.

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Connections

Follows My Night at Maud's (1969)

User Reviews

Thursday Night - French Cinema on the National Television

...And thank God it's like that 'cause otherwise i would never have had the opportunity to see this film. And it's really a great film, at least in my opinion.

Thorought four weeks the National TV showed several Rohmer films and i liked this one, along with "Pauline a la plage", the most. It's really a very charming film and so french, which is great because i love french cinema. I really like Rohmer's style too. It gives me a great pleasure to sit back and watch all these intelligent(mostly) and surely beautiful people just talking. It's not that this film doesn't have a plot but it's just less important than the characters and i really like that. If you watch carefully and if you're intelligent enough, you'll get involved in the story and you won't feel bored at all but there's not so many people that are really able to understand films like this one and Rohmer's cinema as a whole.

Nevermind. I'm really glad i saw this movie and as i've already told you, i saw several other Rohmer's too. And it's all because Thursday Night is a French Cinema Night on the National Telvision. I saw also several Truffaut's and Pialat's. Overall the National Television sucks but i really have to thank them for their Thursday Night.