Synopsis
“Of all the male protagonists in the “
Six Moral Tales” – each a man in a steady relationship who finds himself tempted by an unexpected other woman – the lead in
Claire’s Knee is arguably the least sympathetic, being a generation older than the unsuspecting, adolescent Claire who is his unwitting temptress. Nouvelle vague stalwart
Jean-Claude Brialy plays Jerome, a self-satisfied libertine approaching middle age whose once firm decision to marry his longtime girlfriend is shaken by his encounter with the young Claire. Jerome’s habit of recounting his exploits in a self-serving manner makes explicit
Rohmer’s belief that the “
Moral Tales” protagonists think of themselves as heroes in a novel, narrating their lives to themselves and others as much as living them. The hints of murky depths in Jerome’s character contrast with the glowing imagery of Annecy in the summer, filmed by
Nestor Almendros using a palette inspired by another libertine,
Paul Gauguin." – Harvard Film Archive
