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With: Joëlle Miquel, Jessica Forde, Philippe Laudenbach, François-Marie Banier, Jean-Claude Brisseau, Yasmine Haury, Gérard Courant, Béatrice Romand, Marie Rivière, David Rocksavage, JacquesAuffray, Haydée Caillot, Fabrice Luchini
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Written by: Éric Rohmer
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Directed by: Éric Rohmer
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Language: French, with English subtitles
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Running Time: 99
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Date: 02/04/1987
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Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987)
Blue Hour
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Very little seems to happen in this four-episode, light-as-air Éric Rohmer film, shot on 16mm and largely improvised by the actors, but it's a delicate delight, alive to small textures, sights, and sounds. City girl Mirabelle (Jessica Forde) meets country girl Reinette (Joëlle Miquel) after sustaining a flat tire on her bicycle. They become fast friends, and Mirabelle spends the night so that Reinette can show her the "blue hour," a moment just before dawn in which everything falls quiet.
Later they decide to become roommates in Paris. They talk about the homeless and other people at the fringes of society, encounter a problematic waiter at a cafe, and cook up a scheme to sell one of Reinette's paintings. Their talk seems to flow naturally, butting up against their distinct personalities, but always making logical and emotional sense.
Metrograph Pictures and Kino Lorber's excellent 2023 Blu-ray release is a happy occasion, given that much of Rohmer's middle-to-late-period output has been passed over in the Blu-ray age (and early DVD transfers are particularly abysmal). Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle is being released alongside The Aviator's Wife (1981) and Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987). This disc includes a commentary track by writer Kristen Yoonsoo Kim and a re-release trailer. Highly Recommended.
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