''The Aviator's Wife'' (french: La Femme de l'aviateur) is a 1981 French

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Éric Rohmer. The film stars Philippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière and Anne-Laure Meury. Like many of Rohmer's films, it deals with the ever-evolving love lives of a group of young Parisians. The film is the first instalment in Rohmer's "Comedies & Proverbs" series—a collection of six films the director made during the 1980s. Each of these films begins with a proverb, in the case of ''The Aviator's Wife'' this is: "On ne saurait penser à rien" or "It is impossible to think about nothing".

Plot

Twenty-year-old François is in love with the fiercely independent 25-year-old Anne. One morning, Anne's airline-pilot ex, Christian, visits her to tell her that it is over between them and that he will return to his wife. François just happens to see the two leave Anne's building together and becomes obsessed by the idea that she is cheating on him. As he strolls aimlessly through the streets of Paris, he catches sight of Christian in a café with another woman. As they leave and jump on a bus, François decides to follow them. A 15-year-old girl he has never met, Lucie, figures out what he is up to and playfully joins in with his amateur espionage. Throughout the day, their stories and explanations for Christian's action become increasingly complex and outlandish. Eventually, they lose track of Christian in a taxi and they both leave, promising to write to each other if they ever discover what Christian was really up to. François returns to Anne where he learns that all was not as it seemed between Christian and the blonde woman. Later that night, François goes to Lucie's flat seemingly to place a postcard in her mailbox directly, saving money on a stamp. He spots Lucie embracing a young man (who is coincidentally a co-worker of François'), obviously returning from a date. He leaves, although stops on the way home to buy a stamp and posts the postcard to her.

Cast

Background

After completing his "Six Moral Tales" series in 1972 with '' Love in the Afternoon'', Rohmer spent the remainder of the decade filming historical literary adaptations, such as ''

The Marquise of O ''The Marquise of O'' (german: Die Marquise von O....) is a novella by Heinrich von Kleist on the subject of forced seduction. It was first published in 1808. Synopsis The story begins with a one-sentence paragraph -- the widowed Marquise von O. ...

'' (1976) and '' Perceval le Gallois'' (1978). At the beginning of the next decade, the director returned to writing his own material and ''The Aviator's Wife'' is the first of the "Comedies & Proverbs" series.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 10 critics.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

praised the film, particularly the acting, giving it 3.5 out of 4.

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

of the

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

called it "A perfect film." Janet Maslin of '' The New York Times'' gave the film a positive review, but notes that there is a lot of talk, and that characters "express their fears and wishes in a relatively simple fashion" and that this "makes the material seem thin."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aviator's Wife, The 1981 films 1981 comedy-drama films 1981 romantic comedy films 1981 romantic drama films 1980s French-language films 1980s romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Éric Rohmer Films produced by Margaret Ménégoz Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris French romantic comedy-drama films 1980s French films