The Aviator’s Wife
(La femme de l’aviateur)
Screening on Film
Directed by Eric Rohmer.
With Philippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière, Anne-Laure Meury.
France, 1981, 35mm, color, 104 min.
French with English subtitles.
With Philippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière, Anne-Laure Meury.
France, 1981, 35mm, color, 104 min.
French with English subtitles.
The first of Rohmer’s “Comedies and Proverbs” follows the proverb “It is impossible to think of nothing,” the wisdom of which is tested by two couples who dedicate themselves to analyzing, and overanalyzing, their own situations and relationships. The film revolves around several episodes of miscommunications and misunderstandings between a young woman and her slightly younger lover after he catches her former boyfriend leaving her apartment early one morning. To begin the new series, Rohmer reverted to shooting in 16mm – a choice celebrated by the dynamic yet decidedly un-Rohmerian handheld footage that begins the film – giving The Aviator’s Wife a refreshingly semi-documentary feel for Paris at the dawn of the 1980s.