Six Moral Tales

6 movies

Inspired by F. W. Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), Rohmer's Six Moral Tales tells the story of six self-satisfied men, all in committed relationships (at least in their own minds) who face down the temptation of other women. The men attempt to fit their attraction into their moral framework, which ultimately leads to their reaffirming their original commitment.

Movies

The Bakery Girl of Monceau

6.9

1963

Movie

Early new wave effort from Rohmer, which was the first of his six moral tales. It concerns a young man who approaches a girl in the street, but after several days without seeing her again, he becomes involved with the girl in the local bakery. Eventually, he has to choose between them when he arranges dates with them on the same day.

The Bakery Girl of Monceau

1963

6.9

Suzanne’s Career

6.4

1963

Movie

In the second of Rohmer's moral tales, he examines the relationship between two friends and a girl who at first appears easily exploited. It is a complex tale of feelings and misconceptions, acted out within the head of the main character, as part of Rohmer's attempt to more easily simulate the mindscape quality of literature within a film.

Suzanne’s Career

1963

6.4

La Collectionneuse

6.9

1967

Movie

A bombastic, womanizing art dealer and his painter friend go to a seventeenth-century villa on the Riviera for a relaxing summer getaway. But their idyll is disturbed by the presence of the bohemian Haydée, accused of being a “collector” of men.

La Collectionneuse

1967

6.9

My Night at Maud's

7.7

1969

Movie

The Catholic Jean-Louis runs into an old friend, the Marxist Vidal, in Clermont-Ferrand around Christmas. Vidal introduces Jean-Louis to the modestly libertine, recently divorced Maud and the three engage in conversation on religion, atheism, love, morality and Blaise Pascal's life and writings on philosophy, faith and mathematics. Jean-Louis ends up spending a night at Maud's. Jean-Louis' Catholic views on marriage, fidelity and obligation make his situation a dilemma, as he has already, at the very beginning of the film, proclaimed his love for a young woman whom, however, he has never yet spoken to.

My Night at Maud's

1969

7.7

Claire's Knee

7.3

1970

Movie

On the eve of his wedding, on holiday on the Lake Annecy shore, a career diplomat visits an old acquaintance, perhaps a former girlfriend. Through her he meets an intense teenager, Laura, and then lusts after her sister, Claire. Whilst Laura attempts to flirt with him, his fantasy becomes focused on wanting to caress Claire's knee.

Claire's Knee

1970

7.3

Love in the Afternoon

7.3

1972

Movie

Frederic leads a bourgeois life; he is a partner in a small Paris office and is happily married to Helene, a teacher expecting her second child. In the afternoons, Frederic daydreams about other women, but has no intention of taking any action. One day, Chloe, who had been a mistress of an old friend, begins dropping by his office. They meet as friends, irregularly in the afternoons, till eventually Chloe decides to seduce Frederic, causing him a moral dilemma.

Love in the Afternoon

1972

7.3