A Tale of Summer / Conte d'été (1996) [The Criterion Collection]

Director: Éric Rohmern
Writer: Éric Rohmer
Stars: Melvil Poupaud, Amanda Langlet, Gwenaëlle Simon

According to Eric Rohmer, A Tale of Summer is the most autobiographical film that he made. Based on events from Rohmer’s youth, this installment of Tales of the Four Seasons follows amateur musician Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) to a seaside resort in Dinard, on the coast of Brittany. There, three women (Amanda Langlet, Gwenaëlle Simon, and Aurélia Nolin) each offer the possibility of romance, but Gaspard’s inability to commit to just one puts all of his chances at love in jeopardy. The film features Rohmer’s wistful observations on indecisiveness and the fickle nature of desire, as brought to life by a talented young cast in a picturesque setting.

Extras:
- New 2K digital restoration, supervised by cinematographer Diane Baratier and Laurent Schérer, director Eric Rohmer's son, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Excerpt of a radio interview with Rohmer conducted by film critic Michel Ciment
- Documentary from 2005 on the making of A Tale of Summer, by Françoise Etchegaray and Jean-André Fieschi
- New English subtitle translation



Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons:
The seasons may change, but the follies of the heart are constant in this ineffably lovely quartet of films by Eric Rohmer, one of cinema’s most perceptive chroniclers of the pangs and perils of romance. Set throughout France, Tales of the Four Seasons is a cycle to stand alongside the director’s two earlier acclaimed film series, Six Moral Tales and Comedies and Proverbs. By turns comic and melancholic, breezy and richly philosophical, these bittersweet tales of love, longing, and the inevitable misunderstandings that shape human relationships probe the most complex of emotions with the utmost grace.