Introduction

Abstract

Eric Rohmer’s death at the age of 89 on January 11, 2010, prompted an immediate outpouring of tributes from a wide array of writers, artists, filmmakers, academics, cinephiles, and Francophiles from around the world. Scholars and critics have shown regular and enthusiastic interest in Rohmer’s films throughout his career. A classicist and a modernist, Rohmer’s films have long occupied a special place of favor, but his passing sparked renewed and urgent attention paid to his oeuvre and to his influence on future generations of filmmakers. For speakers of English, and American moviegoers in particular, Rohmer’s films seem to epitomize “French Cinema.” His characters talk and talk, analyzing their motivations and their relationships, and, often, nothing much seems to happen. While some may balk at just these qualities of his films (they’re so French!), for so many viewers, Rohmer’s cinema offers a unique opportunity to get a glimpse into a world where chance and coincidence seem, in fact, elegantly planned, where realism reigns, where characters scrutinize their own desires and negotiate their tentative relationships with one another, a tentativeness often concealed by talk.