Chloe in the Afternoon

Starring:Bernard Verley, Zouzou, FranÃ§oise Verley, Daniel Ceccaldi, Malvina Penne, Babette Ferrier, Tina Michelino, Jean-Louis Livi, Pierre Nunzi, IrÃ¨ne Skobline, FrÃ©dÃ©rique Hender, Claude-Jean Philippe, Silvia Badescu, Claude Bertrand, Sylvaine Charlet, Daniele Malat, Suze Randall, FranÃ§oise Fabian, Marie-Christine Barrault, HaydÃ©e Politoff
Director: Eric Rohmer
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

A low-key, slightly creepy meditation on infidelity and adjustments to social expectations, Chloe in the Afternoon (1972) marks the culmination of director Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" series. The film, which traces the trajectory of Frederic, a married businessman, through temptation and an altogether standard midlife crisis, feels remarkably ham-handed, and fails to offer anything more than platitudinous responses to complex problems. Zouzou proves fetching as the title character, a bohemian drifter bent on seducing, and arguably transforming, the comfortably bourgeois protagonist (the dull-looking Bernard Verley); the rest of the cast, given indistinct characters to interpret, rarely provides much excitement. Several scenes--particularly a revelatory encounter between Frederic and Chloe in the basement of a dress shop--do manage to catch fire, but Rohmer dodges the implications of his own creative instincts and undermines his own point by grafting on a pat conclusion that feels cheap and sudden. Lost in the slide toward obviousness is a genuinely intelligent script--one that manages to feel bright without ever resorting to cleverness--and foggy-surreal location shooting in some of the less fashionable areas of Paris. Best suited for repentant philanderers and hardcore Francophiles. --Miles Bethany

Customer Reviews:

Chloe in the Afternoon.......2007-07-03

The final installment in Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" series, "Afternoon" is a wonderfully acted, deeply thoughtful meditation on the idea of marital infidelity. Frederic and his alluring afternoon companion voice every possible perspective on this ubiquitous temptation, enlightening us as to whether it is a desirable choice or not, and keeping us in prolonged suspense over what will happen between the two of them. Rohmer's understated, emotionally intelligent handling of this platonic affair makes for a thoroughly compelling "Afternoon."

no easy answers for life's great questions.......2007-01-18

The last of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales begins with a man, Frederic (Bernard Verley) watching his wife step out of the shower. She continues to towel herself off, glancing back over her shoulder at him the doorway. It's the kind of genuine, uncontrived eroticism Frederic would find sexy if he weren't married to her.

"Since my marriage," says Frederic, "I find all women attractive. In their mundane tasks, I accord them that mystery I once denied almost all of them." Frederic spends a lot of time observing the opposite sex (for someone with a presumably demanding occupation, we see him doing surprisingly little work), fantasizing about what it would be like to engage these ladies with flirtatious conversation. In this invented world, he is the sort passionate, dangerous figure he imagines beautiful women find irresistible. It's a marked contrast to the person he actually is, this being a Paris lawyer who stays home most nights, reads books on the train, and wears the same style of turtleneck every day.

In an unusually impulsive act, Frederic allows himself to be talked into buying a plaid dress shirt by an attractive salesgirl. "The salesgirl was very clever. She pretended not to give a damn." It won't be the last time in the picture a character gets what they want by feigning disinterest in it (the converse is also true). The shirt isn't particularly becoming, truth be told - it's too tight and Frederic looks out of place in it. But he wears it anyway. It's not long afterwards that a woman named Chloe (Zouzou) reintroduces herself to his life.

Often what makes films great are the questions they pose, not the ones they solve. Love in the Afternoon is full of questions. Can a man love two women at the same time? Where is the divide between innocent flirtation and adultery (it's not as simple as I'd imagine many think)? Is infidelity always morally licentious? Is monogamy by its very nature unsustainable without a certain degree of dishonesty, not to mention an elaborately fantastical interior life?

Love in the Afternoon respects its audience enough not to give any easy answers, allowing us to come to our conclusions about the characters and their motivations. Indeed, the picture is refreshingly free of any kind of musical score, the hack filmmaker's bludgeoning tool to beat viewers into lockstep submission. Rohmer, per usual, takes what could be tiresome and formulaic (Rohmer himself has used the central conceit of the romantically-conflicted man in numerous other films, notably My Night at Maud's) and gives it a new life, a new perspective, and a new understanding. When Chloe reclines spectacularly, a vision, beckoning us from across the room, there is no reductionist moralizing, no wagging of fingers. There is just a beautiful woman, a married man, a bed, and ourselves.

Interesting footnote: Actress/model/musician Zouzou was an icon of the swinging 60s in Europe, engaging in a fairly public romance with Rolling Stone Brian Jones. Problems with heroin saw Zouzou's professional life take a rather ignominious downturn, culminating with her incarceration during the early 90s.

A delightful bon bon of a French film. The ending is refreshing, but is it plausible?.......2006-10-30

Zouzou, the actress who plays Chloe, bears an uncanny resemblance to Hilary Swank, so during most of the movie I was preoccupied with visions of Hilary in 'Boys Don't Cry' and whether men find her sexy. But I digress...
The way in which Frederic, the male protagonist, vacillates between wanting to be completely seduced by Chloe and remaining true to his perfect Parisian wife & life is skillfully presented, and the viewer is left to ponder what s/he would do if thrust in a similar situation. We all know what is right, and we can only hope that we will behave appropriately when confronted by our own version of Chloe.

"Since I've been married, I find all women beautiful".......2006-08-15

"Chloe in the Afternoon" (= "L'amour l'apres-midi", 1972) is the last of Eric Rohmer's "Six moral tales". It is not a long film, but it manages to deal with issues such as love, monogamy, infidelity, and the impact that small decisions can have on couples.

The main character is Frederic (Bernard Verley), a typical bourgeois immersed in his routine, married with one child, and with a wife that is expecting another son. Everything seems perfect, even though somehow monotonous, until the reappearance in his life of an old acquaintance, Chloe (Zouzou). That event suddenly tempts Frederic to be unfaithful to his wife Helene (Francoise Verley), something he merely thought about previously.

Chloe is everything Frederic and Helene are not: spontaneous, volatile and bohemian. That is probably the reason why she seems to attract and repel Frederic at the same time. Chloe, who starts to meet Frederic in the afternoons, is a woman on a mission: she wants to have a child with blue eyes, like Frederic, and has decided that her former friend will be a perfect absent father. So, both Frederic and Chloe seem inclined to have an affair, albeit for different reasons... But will that happen?

All in all, I think that "Chloe in the Afternoon" is a movie you might enjoy. It is slow, but has some interesting dialogues, and it is the kind of film that gives food for thought. This is far from being my favourite Rohmer film, but I don't regret watching it, and I consider that it deserves at least 3.5/5 stars. Recommended!

Belen Alcat

Love in the afternoon.......2005-11-14

The last of Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" and among the best. As in the others, the plot revolves around a married man who has convinced himself, through his own rationalized thinking, that he is happy and content with his life - yet is on the brink of having an affair, which at the last moment refuses he to go through with. There's lots of talk, as in all Rohmer movies, but it's always interesting.

It's fascinating to see this man (Bernard Verley) go through the agonies of his conscience vs. his feelings. And Chloe (Zouzou) is equally fascinating as the sexy seductress. Verley's contradictions, usually of fairly minor concern (for example, at the beginning of the movie he thinks to himself how much he loves the solitude of his afternoons, and then at the end he tells his wife he hates them), always come as a disconcerting shock - and are perfectly timed. Rohmer pays very close attention to the little details which in retrospect add up to quite a bit. An excellent movie.

Average customer rating:

Chloe in the Afternoon
no easy answers for life's great questions
A delightful bon bon of a French film. The ending is refreshing, but is it plausible?
"Since I've been married, I find all women beautiful"
Love in the afternoon

Chloe in the Afternoon
Starring: Bernard Verley , Zouzou , Françoise Verley , Daniel Ceccaldi , and Malvina Penne
Director: Eric Rohmer
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 1572525096
Release Date: 1999-06-29