La Collectionneuse

La Collectionneuse (The Collection) (1967)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Eric Rohmer

Starring: Patrick Bauchau, Haydee Politoff, Daniel Pommereulle, Alain Jouffroy, Mijanou Bardot

From: Les Films du Losange/Rome Paris Films

7 months ago, I saw my first Eric Rohmer film: 1986's The Green Ray. Not only was it great, after the review was posted, several mutuals posted comments which encouraged a further exploration of his filmography. Of course it’s me so it was just now that a second Rohmer was tackled. The plot description intrigued.

The title in English is “The Collector”; it refers to the Bohemian lady known as Haydee, who meets the pompous Adrien and his buddy Daniel at the centuries-old villa where the men are temporarily residing. Admittedly, the two men are shown to be highly pretentious who associate w/ pretentious people. Even before the villa, we see Adrien hanging out with a pair of women-one of them harshly bemoans ugly people. Once at the villa, both insult Haydee to her face; sure, it’s bluster to mask their true feelings but not everyone will enjoy that plot point.

The Collector is full of those characters interacting w/ each other yet the trio (later turning into a quartet for a bit when another dude-Sam-enters the picture) was still interesting so my attention never wavered. It was well-shot in scenic French Riviera locations; the film felt natural as Rohmer created a few scenarios then the three leads improv’ed the rest. Credit should go to Patrick Bauchau, Haydee Politoff, and Daniel Pommereulle not only for their acting but also the story they created. Sure, by modern standards the men are intolerable but that makes Haydee stand out all the more for being likable.

It's a relaxed, chill movie where my attention never wavered despite its methodical pace. Not only was the scenery nice, so was the sound design of birds chirping, swirling wind & water running. The plot of The Green Ray was more intriguing for my tastes; be that as it may, La Collectionneuse was not a bad selection at all for my second Eric Rohmer.