Like many things in life, the process of dating and/or nabbing a significant other is cyclical. At a young age, kids are often scared of showing their true emotions and thus have others serve as romantic messengers between them and the object of their affection. In later years, one's confidence has presumably grown and asking out others becomes an easier -- or at least straight forward -- task.
Nonetheless, many years later and after separation, divorce or death has left them single once again, those who are middle-aged or older often find reentering the dating game a daunting task. As such, they often return to their early shy state and rely on their friends to serve as dating liaisons. That's the underlying gist of writer/director Eric Rohmer's "Autumn Tale," a glacially paced but moderately interesting romantic drama.
The last installment of in a quartet of seasoning titled and thematically similar films (the "Tales of Four Seasons"), this film is an unusual mix of at once being ultra methodical in structure, yet casually meandering in overall feel. Characters simply get together and talk like some old friends who are in no hurry to say or do much of anything tremendously important or compelling.
While some of that is appropriate -- the two leads are old friends who would naturally act that way -- at moments you may find yourself thinking "Enough already! Let's get this story moving." Of course it's quite obvious that the 79-year-old Rohmer (who's won or been nominated for various awards over his long career, including a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination for 1969's "My Night at Maud's") is slowly allowing his characters to develop. While we hope that they might eventually simmer, they unfortunately never even come anywhere close to a full boil.
Although this approach mostly works in that we get to know the characters simply by being in their company for nearly two hours, I kept wanting the story to pick up the pace and delve further into the more meaty -- albeit lean -- subject matter.
In the film's press kit, Rohmer states that he tries to allow his characters to take the story where they may -- thus the random quality -- but one can't help but notice a methodically unfolding substructure slowly nudging the story forward along its predetermined path. Little, if anything, comes as a surprise, and one can pretty much predict what will happen long before it ever does.
Of course, that's because the story is moving so slowly that you'll have plenty of time to reflect on what's happened or will happen, as well as whether you remembered to roll up the car windows and/or what you should put on this week's grocery list.
It's quite obvious that Rohmer isn't that concerned with the story and instead allows the characters to make the film work. While some enjoy this sort of experience, plot-driven moviegoers like myself often become irritated at pictures that are too slow to develop. An easy remedy for this "malady" did exist, but the seasoned filmmaker let it slip right through his fingers.
Despite having the structure and setup in place to deliver such goods, Rohmer opted not to include much of any comedic elements into the proceedings. Beyond a few repeated lines about Rosine's ex-lover becoming her future father-in-law should two subsequent, but highly unlikely marriages take place, the rest of the film is void of some much needed comic relief and/or situational humor.
For instance, having the two matchmakers' blind dates for Magali occurring at the same place -- unbeknownst to either them or the parties involved -- is the stuff of which romantic comedies dream to build up to. Yet, this film and its characters continue to coast through this sequence, like the rest of the film, in an unhurried and unimaginative neutral gear where everything is slow to be introduced and then develop.
That pretty much explains the performer's acting style as well, although that's not to say that they're bad. Instead, it's just that the characters are so lifelike and identifiable that they come off more like real people than movie characters. While that's a testament to their good performances, the "realism" has the effect of somewhat dampening the overall proceedings.
It's a bit difficult to explain, but one is apt to get the feeling that they're hanging out with some longtime friends instead of watching characters in a movie. I for one enjoy movies that present characters or situations that don't fall into the everyday realm of life -- escapism if you will -- and the ones here give the feeling of sitting around with a bunch of friends talking about their dating problems.
The effect is soothing and moderately pleasing, but with the characters' long, blank stares and other non movie-like reactions to comments or unfolding events, the movie subsequently never seems terribly compelling or for that matter, very entertaining.
That said, the performances are all quite good. Both Marie Rivière ("A Winter's Tale") and Béatrice Romand (her first film since 1987's "Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle") create entirely believable characters to such a degree that, as stated above, they seem far more like real people than movie creations. While we thus like them despite, or because of their flaws, their realistic qualities prevent the film from feeling "larger than life."
Supporting performances from the likes of Alexia Portal (making her film debut) as the young and fetching student, Didier Sandre ("Coming To Terms"), as her more worldly and "Lolita" craving professor and Alain Libolt ("Bernie") as the middle-aged man looking for love, are all decent across the board.
While some viewers might not agree at all with our objections and instead, absolutely love the film, its characters and their French country setting, others may find the film too slow for their liking. Although the film certainly isn't anywhere near being bad, we simply wish that its plot were a bit more substantial, its pacing increased, and that at least a few laughs had been thrown in to diversify the proceedings and make them more enjoyable. As it stands, "Autumn Tale" is decent, but in our opinion way too slow and certainly difficult to watch more than once. As such, we give it a 5 out of 10.
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