the protagonist of The Bakery Girl of Monceau is a man undone by the oldest of male failures, the mysterious, unavailable woman occupies his imagination entirely, and so in her absence he turns his attention to the available one, the one who is actually there and actually interested. he is not cruel about it exactly. he is just thoughtless in that way men are when they feel entitled to keep their options open.
I will not pretend I don't recognise the impulse. there is something about distance and mystery that is genuinely more interesting than easy familiarity, Rohmer understands this and does not judge it too harshly. what he does leaves us to judge is the deception involved.
what I found harder to forgive than any of this, however, was the littering. the man takes these little wraps and throws them directly onto the street, repeatedly. you can excuse a great deal in a man. littering is harder.
the protagonist of The Bakery Girl of Monceau is a man undone by the oldest of male failures, the mysterious, unavailable woman occupies his imagination entirely, and so in her absence he turns his attention to the available one, the one who is actually there and actually interested. he is not cruel about it exactly. he is just thoughtless in that way men are when they feel entitled to keep their options open.
I will not pretend I don't recognise the impulse. there is something about distance and mystery that is genuinely more interesting than easy familiarity, Rohmer understands this and does not judge it too harshly. what he does leaves us to judge is the deception involved.
what I found harder to forgive than any of this, however, was the littering. the man takes these little wraps and throws them directly onto the street, repeatedly. you can excuse a great deal in a man. littering is harder.
