The Romance of Astrea and Celadon
Nov 07 - Nov 13, 2008
(Eric Rohmer, France/Italy/Spain, 2007, 35mm, 109 min)
From My Night at Maud’s to Claire’s Knee, from Chloe in the Afternoon to A Tale of Springtime, Eric Rohmer has made a career out of treating modern romance like the greatest classical love stories. So it is entirely appropriate for this grand master, now 87, to draw inspiration from the classic 17th century French novel The Romance of Astrea and Celadon for his latest and perhaps his last film. Gorgeous and sun–kissed, the young shepherd Celadon and the beautiful Astrea are ill–fated lovers, their romance torn asunder by a sudden misunderstanding. An attempt at suicide lands Celadon in the clutches of the sensual Galathea and her handmaidens, but a helpful passerby soon gives our hero an idea to re–enter Astrea’s life and heart. Filled with nymphs, druids and angels, the film is literally atwitter with the sounds of medieval times, and aflutter with its more sensual sights, including countless breezes caressing the billowing shirts of our hero, heroine and sundry nubile lasses.
“There's a purity to the emotional turmoil of tormented lovers, but it's the rich simplicity of the filmmaking and the seductive sensuality of a bucolic Eden where maidens innocently fall out of their artfully revealing dresses that makes the romantic frolic so delicious." -Seattle PI
"By the time this medieval story reaches its surprisingly homoerotic finale (think "Some Like It Hot" blended with "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), it seems astonishingly contemporary...Watching them, especially at this point in his career, is a bit like discovering the purity and straightforwardness of the earliest silent films." -Seattle Times
"Set in fifth-century Gaul, the movie has a lightness and erotic magic you'd expect from a story that has a hidden castle, a mysterious river, an enchanted forest, lively nymphs, lost shepherds, and helpful druids." -The Stranger