If I had only one director's films to live with I would choose Rohmer. If I had to reduce his output to ten I would choose all of the six that make up the ' Comedies and Proverbs ' series, plus a couple from his ' Four Seasons ' and a couple from his ' Moral Tales. ' Les nuits de la pleine lune ' the fourth in his ' Comedies and Proverbs ' is his most tragic, and bears endless watching. It shows how an emotional house cannot be a divided one. As simple and as complex as that. Pascale Ogier is excellent in the role of a young woman who must live quite literally in two places; one with her partner in the suburbs, the other in Paris. She wants freedom and she wants to be attached and during the night of a full moon this situation comes to a climax. It is tragic because the outcome is not her choice, and I for one feel that this will be repeated again and again. She loves to be admired and wanted, and yet she is not at all promiscuous. I was struck too by the decors of both places and Rohmer's use of colour. Blue predominates. In her place in Paris she decorates it herself, and in her partner's place she seems to have only a small amount of choice. I could try to interpret the meaning of this, and also the meaning of the full moon which seems as meaningful as the sun in ' Le Rayon Vert ' also in the same series, but I will not indulge in analysis. I will only mention one observation; the moon is a sort of cold madness, while the sun in ' Le Rayon Vert ' and the experience of witnessing the elusive Green Ray before the sun sets promises the warmth of love. As usual Rohmer's choice of actors is perfect and that his dialogue is rich and clear. Why is he my favourite director ? That too is a mystery to me. I want to keep it that way because if I explained it to myself I might lose the magic of his films.
