"It's better to wait for something than settle for reality"

Le rayon vert sounded perfect on paper, but unfortunately I didn't connect with it like I wished I could. That said, for a film about loneliness, the moments that stuck did so profusely, with a stellar performance from Marie Rivière. And that ending... one of my favourites of the medium. My primary negative with my experience (the uneven pacing) served as a positive for the final few minutes. We follow Delphine from place to place, as her loneliness overwhelms her from location and love. And then, there it is, a chance for that glance at the green ray...

Upon learning that much of the dialogue was improvised, my respect and adoration for this film skyrocketed further. I guess that's the best way to have natural dialogue.

There was a moment 40-minutes in where I had to pause the film and sit in reflection, because I was absolutely struck by how much I saw Delphine in myself. It is such an unusual sensation— I never really find characters in films who encapsulate me completely, but I did with Delphine, and I wasn't sure how to react. It's almost comforting in its honesty. This film required me to look inwardly at myself instead of as a mere bystander in others' affairs, and I think that alone is a worthy accomplishment.

4.6/5

A film that speaks to me like few others. I see so much of Delphine in myself that the film would be hard to watch if its criticism of her reservedness weren't so empathetically delivered. Rohmer was a master.

Rohmer is more interested in dimension than anything else, both literal and metaphoric. The spacial dimensions of the frame have a consciously defined awareness that isn't seen in many films and this is constantly a part of the interplay between characters (vast public spaces make the open nature of our characters and dialogue miraculously claustrophobic, a somewhat retroactive effect that is definitely one of the clear intents of the piece). Rohmer is also interesting primarily in that his dialogue and each segregated 'moment' in the piece is wildly comic and slightly wry (within the first five minutes there's a memorable scene with escalating comments about a statue which is reminiscent of the screenplay for Vera Chytilova's seminal work Daisies) which makes the austere awareness of the existence of the camera even more interesting to watch.

Just when you see it, it's gone.

I’ve seen a couple rohmer films now and have quickly realized that they feel a lot less contrived than some of his contemporaries’ films.

Rivière is so relatable as Delphine, who just can’t quite find her place. Everyone around her makes her feel stupid for even worrying, and at times it’s all she can do to just keep it together.

There really aren’t any other characters that offer any dynamic element to the plot, but it only serves to highlight Delphine’s angst—which comes off as an existential crisis rather than some fickle ennui as in other rohmer leads.

The mystique of horoscopes, seances, mediums, symbols, and natural phenomena all play into that feeling of waiting and watching for something to come.

"It's better to wait for something than settle for reality"

Le rayon vert sounded perfect on paper, but unfortunately I didn't connect with it like I wished I could. That said, for a film about loneliness, the moments that stuck did so profusely, with a stellar performance from Marie Rivière. And that ending... one of my favourites of the medium. My primary negative with my experience (the uneven pacing) served as a positive for the final few minutes. We follow Delphine from place to place, as her loneliness overwhelms her from location and love. And then, there it is, a chance for that glance at the green ray...

Upon learning that much of the dialogue was improvised, my respect and adoration for this film skyrocketed further. I guess that's the best way to have natural dialogue.

"If I had anything to show, people would have seen it by now"

Listless, restless, existentially underwhelmed Delphine is an absolute marvel of realism. A little prickly but (mostly) means well, ambivalent about nearly everything, reads Dostoevsky in train stations, lies to children about having a boyfriend...this is all feeling way too relateable 😭

I was totally ready to write this off due to the whiny, weepy, sad main character. I liked all her friends better than her. Why didn't she just listen to them and stop mooning over the fiance her dumped her. Move on! Then in the last 15 minutes everything turns. And then you get it. Oh, Eric. You did it again.

I love Eric Rohmer more than certain members of my family. This was my first foray outside his Six Moral Tales, and I'm so happy it was this great. This is THE FILM for all the introverted extroverts out there, and I wonder if it even makes an ounce of sense to an extrovert. Such a lovely, patient, and beautiful film. Also awesome to see a woman protagonist treated with the same nuance as he gives to his male ones in the moral tales.

A lot of Before (Sunrise and Midnight) and Morvern Callar vibes. Unfortunately, closer in quality to the latter two than to the first.

Do you ever feel like you’re looking in a mirror rather than watching a movie... that was me for at least half of this and it was just..... I’m speechless

most definitely my favourite Rohmer film thus far
so touching, raw and delightful it leaves you breathless and panting for more