Main Cast: Marie Rivière, Amira Chemakhi, Rosette, Sylvia Richez, Béatrice Romand, Vincent Gauthier, Lisa Heredia, Basile Gervaise
Release Year: 1986
Country: FR
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Summer (Le Rayon Vert) is the fifth of French director Eric Rohmer's "Comedies et Proverbes" movie cycle. Left out of everyone's Summer vacation plans, unhappy Parisian student Marie Riviere (Rohmer's star in all of the "Comedies et Proverbes") accepts an invitation to stay at her friend's empty apartment in Biarritz. Swedish tourist Carita tries to snap Riviere out of her bad mood, but the two ladies are polar opposites in terms of relating to the opposite sex. Carita will take it any way she can, while Riviere holds out for true romance. A mystical assignation tied in with the old Jules Verne novel Le Rayon Vert (The Green Ray) brings Riviere in contact with the man of her dreams (Vincent Gauthier). An international award winner, Summer was surprisingly overlooked in France, where director Rohmer was (in the 1980s at least) somewhat taken for granted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A typically subtle and just as typically transcendent Eric Rohmer feature, Rayon Vert, the fifth of his Comedies et Proverbes series, establishes a heroine (Marie Rivière) who at first seems passive and fussy to the point of unlikability and then slowly brings viewers to care deeply about her seemingly impossible quest for happiness. A believer in true love, Rivière has nearly reached the end of her youth without finding it, her loneliness and unwillingness to compromise making her out of place amidst family, friends, and the singles scene. Those who dislike Rohmer's verbosity will again find themselves on unfriendly turf here, but they will also have missed much of the point. He's a believer not in speech for its own sake but in the power of dialogue and the ability of debate to push toward a higher understanding. To this end, Rohmer remains sympathetic to each setting Rivière encounters and portions the members of each a sensible contribution to his heroine's internal struggle, even if he ultimately aligns himself with her values. By the film's intensely moving finale, both Rohmer and his heroine have earned its moment of revelation. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
