Conte d'été (A Summer's Tale) is the third part of Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons and marks his first appearance at Cannes since winning the Special Jury Prize for La Marquise d'O in 1976.
Rohmer's intention with this series of films was to "focus on attractive, intelligent, self-absorbed, if not entirely self-aware young women who present their dilemmas with clarity and elegance, and express their feelings in inspired and witty dialogue".
Conte d'été charts the summer vacation of Gaspard (Melvil Poupard), a young man who claims that nothing ever happens in life. But as it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth.
Gaspard is lent a room at a beach resort by a classmate, Lena, who he thinks he is in love with - and who he also believes will be joining him on his holiday. While he's waiting there for her, he spends his time going for long walks with Margot, another student. They are both ostensibly already attached - but finding themselves growing closer, Gaspard dedicates a song he has written to her. When Margot and Gaspard dance the swivel-hips at a local disco, another girl, called Solène, finds herself attracted to Gaspard. He ends up re-dedicating his song to her and deciding to spend the rest of his holiday with her.
Then, to complicate things even further, Lena turns up… Confused? Well, so is Gaspard. As Margot says to him: "I can't make up my mind about you. First, I saw you as lovesick, then as a clumsy Romeo, then as craftier than you seemed, then as quite naughty, then as basically decent but still a bit crafty…"
As ever with Rohmer, the journey of self-discovery and the interaction between the characters provides the key to the film, and forms a natural progression from the themes of love and friendship explored in 1989's Conte de printemps (A Tale of Springtime) and 1992's Conte d'hiver (A Winter's Tale).
John Adair
Prod Co: Les Films Du Losange, (La Sept Cinéma)
Prod: Françoise Etchegeray
Dir/Scr: Eric Rohmer
Ph: Diane Baratier
Mus: Philippe Eidel, Sebastien Erms
Ed: Mary Stephen
Cast: Melvil Poupard, Amanda Langlet, Aurélia Nolin, Gwenaëlle Simon
International sales: Les Films Du Losange
