A Tale of springtime = Conte de printemps

Episode number 1 of Series “Tales of the four seasons = Contes des quatre saisons”.
The first in a series of films by Eric Rohmer based on the four seasons, “Le Conte de printemps” is essentially a chamber piece about the interaction of six characters (one of whom never appears). The characters are made up of three couples, whose centre is the developing friendship between the cerebral Jeanne and the instinctive Natasha. Rohmer’s visual style is restrained and unobtrusive, but also gloriously cinematic. There are flowers blooming everywhere, signs of rebirth, of hope, of the opportunites that life has to offer, and teasingly, the possibilities that lie just beyond the grasp of the flawed humanity that populates this film. Cast includes Anne Teyssedre, Hugues Quester, Florence Darel, Eloise Bennett, Sophie Robin.