Light On Dark Water

This is a late '60s French movie by one of the New Wave directors (Eric Rohmer), generally regarded as a classic, so I fully expected to like it. But my reaction was lukewarm at best. I didn't know what to expect from the description: two friends, one Catholic and the other Marxist, spend an evening at the apartment of a divorcee named Maud, with whom the Marxist is having an affair. Was it going to be a round of Church-bashing? Or was it going to be intelligent and respectful? Happily, it was the latter. The first scene is a Mass, and there's another toward the end, and the priest's homily is not silly stuff at all, nor is it treated that way. 

Jean-Louis, the Catholic, and Vidal, the Marxist, run into each other in a cafe, not having seen each other for a while. Vidal talks Jean-Louis into going with him to visit Maud. Much discussion of a very French-cinema sort takes place–discussions of ideas and of love, but all in a pretty abstract sort of mode. Maud is intrigued by Jean-Louis and decides to attempt to seduce him. He resists. I'll let that suffice for plot summary, so as not to give away too much.

I will say that not a great deal happens for most of the film. But I can't blame that for my lack of enthusiasm, as there are plenty of films I like which are pretty short in the action department. I can't point to anything in particular that I disliked, but I simply wasn't engaged by the people or what they talked about or what they did. Jean-Louis seems dull, and I found Maud annoying. But I guess the fundamental problem is that none of them seem to have any deep passion about anything, not even their lovers. Since they seem a little disengaged, the viewer, or at least this viewer, does, too. 

This is one of those well-produced Criterion Collection re-issues, and you can view some scenes at their site. If you haven't seen it, and that sample looks intriguing, don't let my opinion stop you. I'm prepared to admit that the defect is in me more than in the work. But there it is. 

There seems to be some point involving Pascal and his famous wager being made here, but if so I didn't really get it. The DVD includes an episode of a French TV show in which a philosopher and a priest discuss Pascal. I'm a little ashamed to say that I only watched part of it: it was a weekday night, and I was sleepy, and tired of listening to people talk inconclusively. In French. Like I said, maybe I'm the problem. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who thinks it's a great movie.