Le Genou De Claire aka Claire’s Knee, written
and directed by Éric Rohmer
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Claire’s
Knee is a fabulous chef d’oeuvre.
It is
thought provoking, philosophical and charming.
The New
York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made includes it:
Éric Rohmer
has Chloe in The Afternoon also listed with these works of art.
The story
reminds me of Lolita, at least for some passages.
-
Jean-Claude Brialy plays Jerome, Aurora
Cornu has the role of…Aurora, Beatrice Romand is Laura
-
Fabrice Luchini, an actor that I
admire a lot, has his first important, if supporting role of his career
Jerome is a
cultural attaché and has a house near Lake Annecy.
This is
where he meets again Aurora.
They have
had a relationship that Aurora talks about when Jerome was a diplomat in…Bucharest
and she was living there.
It seems to
me that both the character and the actress are or have something Romanian,
although searching on the web I found nothing on the matter.
The two
friends share stories, both real and imagined, for Aurora is a writer who asks
for advice from her Belami.
They have a
conversation with Laura, who is a teenager and her mother that is single now
and separated from an ex-husband, while the other has died.
Even if
showing an intelligence that is beyond her age, Laura is still too innocent and
naïve to be implicated in games…
-
Games People Play by Eric Berne is a
classic of psychology
After this
first communication, the writer seems to be provoking events in order to find
inspiration and material for her works.
She insists
that Laura told her she loves Jerome and when the latter dismisses this
information, Aurora becomes encouraging.
It is an
uneasy, outré, awkward part of the film.
This rapprochement
is illegal in most civilized countries that call it statutory rape, if intimacy
takes place.
Sure, this
is taking place decades ago, the film was produced in 1970 and I am not sure if
anything really happens.
-
That is I know, but for reasons of spoilers
and the like I can’t say anything
Laura and
Jerome do take a hike together, for a good many hours, even if her mother has
some doubts.
In conversation,
she does say that it looks somewhat inappropriate given that her daughter has a
special interest in Jerome.
As a
parent, I wouldn’t have gone away and allowed it in spite of all that.
Nevertheless,
the conversations between the older man and the teenager are extremely
interesting and elevated
Love is
compared with friendship.
Jerome says
that they are basically one and the same, while Laura wants something exceptional,
in the manner of a knight in shining armor.
The film is
phenomenal.
Here is a
quote:
“Jerome: Every woman has her most vulnerable
point. For some, it's the nape of the neck, the waist, and the hands. For
Claire, in that position, in that light, it was her knee.
Jerome: The turmoil she arouses in me gives me
a sort of right over her.”
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