Love in the Afternoon

Eric Rohmer ends his cycle of Six Moral Tales with this delightful film starring Bernard Verley as Frederic, a happily married man who discovers that he can't stop looking at beautiful women. As he says in a voiceover, I feel marriage closes me in, cloisters me, and I want to escape. His escape comes to him in the form of Chloe (Zouzou), a woman from his past. Chloe had left for America as a successful model but has now returned to Paris, bored with her life and saddled with a man she doesn't love. Although Frederic is reluctant to see her at first, they agree to meet in the afternoons -- just to talk. He feels a freedom with her that he doesn't experience with anyone else because they have, he thinks, no commitments to each other. So, they talk of their problems and their relationships and, before long, Frederic finds that he is becoming increasingly attracted to her.~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide