NYFF ’69: My Night at Maud’s

In Rohmer’s Oscar-nominated masterpiece, a Clermont-Ferrand snowstorm forces a young Catholic engineer (Jean-Louis Trintignant) to spend a night with the irresistibly witty and charming divorcée of the title (the ravishing Françoise Fabian). She tries to seduce him, though he has his heart set on the beautiful blond he’s spied across the pew. So instead they chat, over and under the covers, about the universe, the existence of God, and the philosophies of Blaise Pascal. Rarely has pillow talk been this heady, or this scintillating.

“In spite of the fact that the two main characters do little but talk, and even though their conversations are relatively intellectual (Pascal, etc.), the film is sheer joy, as dry as a Gibson, and much more potent.” —NYFF7 program note

Image courtesy of FILMS DU LOSANGE / THE KOBAL COLLECTION