Rohmer's Fifth Season? L'Anglaise et le Duc and Triple Agent

摘要

J'articule trs distinctement de manire qu'il puisse lire sur mes lvres: JE SUIS LA PRIN-CES-SE DE LAM-BAL-LE. JE SUIS LA PRIN-CES-SE DE LAM-BAL-LE. (Modiano 1969, p. 169) This essay is about the relationship between L'Anglaise et le Duc and Triple Agent and the rest of Eric Rohmer's opus. In analysing the tragic and collective dimensions of the two films, it examines how Rohmer constructs in them an uncharacteristically dark view of the world, and it shows how the thematic changes are accompanied by modifications in cinematographic practice. While essentially in accord with those who believe that these films do mark a significant break with Rohmer's other work, it argues that connections can be found both through a critical appraisal of what Pascal Bontizer has described as the 'subterranean horror' of Rohmer's world, and especially through a fresh look at Rohmer's often neglected first feature, Le Signe du Lion.