gavin6942 A womanizing art dealer and a painter find the serenity of their Riviera vacation disturbed by a third guest, a vivacious bohemian woman known for her long list of male conquests.This film is somewhat notorious for its limited budget. In his autobiography, Nestor Almendros admits, "The film had to have a 'natural' look, whether we wanted it to or not, because we had only five photoflood lamps." They used so little film that, "In the laboratories they thought they were the rushes of a short (film)." Or as James Monaco tells it, "The only expenses that summer were for film stock and rent for the house in Saint-Tropez, which was the set and which also housed cast and crew. There was also a small budget line for the salary of the cook, who, the stories go, cooked nothing but minestrone during the entire shooting schedule." And then there is the matter of not having any big names in the cast. Phillip Lopate says Rohmer "likes nonprofessionals for the fact that they seem quieter and less apt to project Personality, with a capital P." He also contrasts Rohmer with Bresson in this regard. Indeed, there is something to be said about using amateurs, especially when the biggest actors ultimately become distracting.In 2012, Roger Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies" list. Many others have praised this film for a variety of reasons. While it is, indeed, a good film, it is really not my type of movie and thus I cannot fully endorse it. But perhaps it is something for you.

framptonhollis This is the fourth film in Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" film series, and, since I'm watching the six films in order, the fourth film in the "Six Moral Tales" series that I've seen, as well as the second best (after the excellent "My Night at Maud's"). However, as much as I love this film, a majority of the it's characters are absolutely horrible people! But, I feel like this was intentional with at least a couple of these characters. For example. the character of Daniel is so utterly annoying and pathetic that I cannot help but believe that he is the type of character that was designed for the audience to hate. There's one scene towards the end in which the main character (named Adrien) introduces Daniel to another character, and Daniel just insults him and his profession.As unlikable as the characters may be, the film they're in is wonderful. It's entertaining, witty, well written, and beautifully made. The cinematography is absolutely lovely! This was Rohmer's first color film, and it works wonderfully with color."La collectionneuse" is a genius work of art

lasttimeisaw It is truly disheartening to calmly embrace the fact that the aftertaste of watching this film is a certain degree of disappointment, against my almost irrational desire to love Rohmer's oeuvre, but I just don't like THE COLLECTOR, the fourth chapter of Rohmer's "MORALE TALES" series, the first feature length in the series and his very first colour feature too. Searching inwards, what takes me aback actually is the three protagonists, Adrien (Bauchau), an art dealer, Daniel (Pommereulle), a painter, and Haydée (Politoff), a young girl, the titular "collectionneuse", none of them is really simpatico enough to deserve viewers' attentiveness, on top of that, after three rapid prologues introducing those three, the entire film is vexingly hinged on Adrien's viewpoint with his , and he is the most obnoxious one among them, narcissistic, supercilious and self-centred, ever since he meets Haydée, a stranger who stays with him and Daniel in a villa of their their common friend in Riviera for vacation. The arrival of Haydée disrupts Adrien's "doing nothing" plan of his holiday, especially when he can smugly occupy the moral high ground to hold her promiscuity in contempt, meanwhile, his resolution of not being one of her "collection" is persistently being challenged by Haydée's sensuality, a typical tug-of-war between moral superiority and libidinous inferiority. Haydée, sports an ingénue appearance, is in another quandary, as she confesses without the usual pretence, she is looking for a normal relationship, but every man she meets only attracts to her sex appeal, obviously she forgets, birds of a feather flock together, if she wants a more meaningful relationship, she should opt for a different potential market, not those hormone-driven lads. Yet the heart wants what the heart wants, she is too young to realise that, and which is why she enjoys playing the catch-and-release game with Adrien, treats him like her usual prey, starts the first move then retreats to a blasé niche towards his tentative courtship, as titillating as it can be, sometimes it backfires. As the finale points out, the game-changer sometimes arrives unpreparedly, just a spur of the moment, that's how frivolous a man's thoughts are, this is where Rohmer hits the home run, but only if we could be saved from all the metaphysical jibber-jabber. Daniel, the third footing of the triangle, is more elusive since mostly he is more of an outsider observing the game emotionlessly, until he participates in as a catalyst to meddle with the imbroglio, at one time it seems he would play a more significant counter-part in the contest, but after a bit, he is defeated and drops out, leaving the room for Sam (Archer), an American art collector whom Adrien is doing business with, to be manipulated for another test of the bottom line between the sex battle, only it will cost him an expensive Chinese vase from Song Dynasty. Majestically shot under the natural light, after all, as cerebral and insightful as Rohmer's master stroke is, THE COLLECTOR doesn't strike the same chord as his two latter films (THE AVIATOR'S WIFE 1981 and PAULINE AT THE BEACH 1983) I've previously watched, but it will not discourage me from his works, it is just a little bump on the road, never mind.

ruthierocks The first feature length moral tale, La Collectionneuse is easily better than its predecessors. Offering a realistic look into the lives of three young people and narrated perfectly by one, La Collectionneuse is a beautiful film. This is Eric Rohmer's first color feature and it is absolutely magnificent to look at. There are several gorgeous beach scenes. The cinematography all around is just glorious. Aside from that, the acting is wonderful. There is so much chemistry between the main characters that it electrifies the film. It also provides a realistic tale of the struggle to keep morality. Translated as "The Collector" in English, La Collectionneuse is an overlooked, underrated film that should be considered a classic.The story begins with three prologues. The first, Haydee's prologue, simply shows the girl on the beach in a skimpy bikini. The second prologue introduces the viewer to Daniel, a painter, who becomes a key character. Adrien's prologue, the third and last, gives us an introduction to Adrien, who becomes our narrator throughout the rest of the film. These three characters are whom the story revolves around. Sharing a mutual friend, the three of them come to share a villa during their vacation. Adrien, an art dealer who is played by Patrick Bauchau, has made it his goal to do absolutely nothing during his stay. He and Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle) become friends fairly quickly, but both keep their distance from Haydee (Haydee Politoff), the beautiful young girl who beds a different guy every night. Adrien is at first disgusted with her behavior, calling her a "collector" of men, but eventually becomes intrigued by her. As he grows more and more attracted to her, Adrien must decide whether or not to sleep with her and forget his moral integrity or to abstain and do what he knows is right. Through his narration, Adrien debates this and plays mind games with Haydee, although he's not sure if she shares the attraction or if she simply wants to add him to her collection.This film is simply beautiful. The sexual tension feels very real, which is due to both the performances of the actors and the direction of Eric Rohmer, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. The narration is refreshing, offering a good look into Adrien's mind. La Collectionneuse is very sharp with its dialogue and themes. Like the other Rohmer films I've seen, this one ends very abruptly. It reminds us that we're watching these people's lives for only a short time. The 87 minutes is completely worth it, though. La Collectionneuse is a great film and should be regarded in higher esteem than it seems to be. I can't imagine why this one isn't ranked alongside the greats.10/10