Jean-Louis, a 34-year-old engineer, works at Michelin, keeps to Catholic traditions, and wants to get married without getting caught up in fleeting romances. At one of the services, he notices a girl and instantly falls in love with her, planning their marriage in his head. But one evening, his old friend Vidal invites him to visit his girlfriend, or perhaps lover, Maud, who begins to shake Jean-Louis's foundations.

One of Eric Rohmer's six “moral tales” is our candidate for a New Year's classic. Yes, there are none of the usual attributes of New Year's films here: no Santa Claus, no elves, no hustle and bustle, no family gatherings. The classic setting is provided by a Christmas tree that appears for a couple of minutes and a snowfall that is incredibly important to the plot. At the same time, the film is intimate, consisting of 90% dialogue in muted tones, which, together with the plasticity of the characters wrapped in blankets, creates a special cosiness. It is in this cosiness that real philosophical battles unfold between the four main characters. These battles are about choice, fate, God, and Pascale.

Even if you get lost in these philosophical labyrinths, the film leaves a pleasant impression thanks to the performances of the young Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, and Marie-Christine Barrault, the chic black-and-white interior shots by future Hollywood cinematographer Nestor Almendros, and the light humor that Romer, a former critic for Cahiers du Cinema, took from his favorite American comedies.

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Media partner of the film program: ‘98mag