When a Conservative Director Makes a Gay Film (Video Essay) 

Thank you all for your kind comments on this video! My book Judas is out now! www.amazon.com/dp/B0DC5H6TKK ❤❤❤

I read the title as ‘conservative dictator’ and was so confused

at first i thought it was a parody recorded by an iphone because their faces and outfits are so 2024

i remember watching this movie in 2021 because i was convinced it was a sapphic love story! very surprised to find about the director’s view lol

I feel like Bottoms must have been inspired by this

I wish we could all be more comfortable with queerness, it would let a lot of people live more authentically

haven't felt the need to thank the youtube algorithm in a long time! a film, a director and a youtuber i've never heard of before. but now i have, glad i did, and will happily devour more of it. thank you for your work!

"It's called chemistry. I have it with everyone"-Jeff Winger

Eric Rohmer is my favourite director. There is no doubt watching this film that it has a certain lesbian overtone, the only slight issue with your assumptions is that there has always been some writing issues with this film. Joelle Miquel (Reinette) has said that she approached Rohmer with the original story and screenplay, and Rohmer even admitted that she provided nearly all the ideas, however she has never been credited. Also all the paintings are Joelle's. I have no idea of her sexual orientation, I know she has a daughter, but I can find no evidence of a man in her life. It's not really for us to pry, but the mind does wander to ideas.

"Reinette invites Mirabel up to her room, where she proudly shows her paintings" me: Gayyyyy! That sounds like all the evidence we need.

Glad I clicked! thanks for the rec, sounds like the themes of the movie are things i've already been twirling around in my writer brain.

You should watch Girlfriends and Girlfriends (2022) by Zaida Carmona, it's a lesbian movie about a group of friends in Barcelone, and it's inspired by Rohmer !!

Great analysis video. I too felt the tensions between them n had this movie in my non-cannon lesbian list . Also the classic red - green pairing like the portrait of the lady on fire . God bless YT algo

So good i really wanna watch the movie now

one of my favorite films of all time !! always read it as a romance

Rex, I have just recently discovered your channel and your commentary is wonderful. I’ve loved Rohmer’s films after I stumbled on The Green Ray as a teenager and it’s so nice to hear someone praising his work in such a perceptive way. As well, your speaking voice is very engaging. All the best as you develop your own films.

Great video! I love rohmer. This film has been in my head since I saw stills of it on tumblr 10 years ago. I had no idea at the time that just my aesthetic preference for the stills would inform my taste in films over the decade to come. Considering I don’t watch until much much later. That sharp red against that lush green is still so incredible.

I love Rhomer's movies! Thanks for the video, its an amazing interpretation.

Paused the video halfway through to go and watch it, then just came back and finished the video. What a beautiful little movie! I'm so glad I stumbled across this video.

I do think there's way too much "shipping" in popular entertainment that just isn't supported by the text, but, yeah I think your analysis is correct in this case

watching this right after my conservative mother told me “If my kids are going to date anyone they better be straight” is very healing actually

Fidelity, family, and morality? Super conservative, man... pushing boundaries here.

Their relationship reminds me a lot of that of Sadie and Marie in we lost our heads. The obsessive friendship in which when they are both together they can’t think of anyone else, to the tredding of the lines of platonic and romantic. I think this film perfectly implements the homoerotic friendships that many sapphic women have experienced.

The styling of the filming is beautiful it gives me longlegs vibes.

Rohmer rocks. The Green Ray is one of my very favorite 80s films. But there's a lot I haven't seen, like this one. Thanks for the video!

oooh new fav director alert?

You would also enjoy Beanpole (2021). The 2 leads had good chemistry and prolonged eye contact with each other. That film also had ambiguous interpretation & long shots so you could appreciate the actor's expressions with few cuts.

I like the little arrow you added to indicated how people look at the characters! This video was quite efficient, which I appreciated as a teacher ^^' Well done!

Rohmer is my favorite director and this film was my first introduction to his work. I've been waiting for the day someone would make a nuanced video essay discussing his films, and i'm very glad the algorithm brought me here. Subscribed! Thank you for making this :)

As important as overt queer representation is, sometimes I like relationships that are left for the viewer to interpret. As an aromantic myself, I might enjoy viewing this as a wonderful intimate friendship (in a world where everyone seems to be obsessed with romance). But I can absolutely understand why other people would make the art their own by viewing the relationship as romantic. Both are great, and even I might switch between the two interpretations depending on my mood for the day^^

This was so lovely! Thank you for making it

I just want to say that the paintings are the one made by Joëlle Miquel, Reinette actress, before the film was even made. She was first and foremost a painter before becoming an actress. Nowadays, I think she continued to be an actress and also became a writer for TV and a novelist.

I have always seen “Call Me By My Name” as a film about pedophilia.

My top 3 Rohmer

Mmmhh I'm convinced TO THE GAY CINEMA! *batman music

YT algorithm snapped w this one

This is one of my favorite films, but i haven't heard anyone speak about it yet. Thank you for this video

0:45 Sacré bleu! What about liberté, égalité, fraternité!?

everything distances mirabelle and reinette, the countryside girl and the parisian girl, this is a movie about their incompabilities, the fact they are lost in each others place in each first two act, in the third act they complete each other, the bourgeois politeness of both girls is pure sweet candy. The fact the men are stupid is really jokes on Parisians. If you want modern queer french movie about queer stuffs you should watch 120BPM or any movie by Bertand Mandico, i really love Connan and Ultra Pulpe, also only seen one of is short but the next Alexis Langlois Movie "Queens of Drama" looks insanely good

Loved this video! Thanks for introducing me to a director I knew but that I hadn't explored in depth!

Rhis was randomly in my reccomended and this was actually so good

I've never watched any of his films but I will watch this. Thanks

Great video. I'm a long-time Rohmer fan and knew about his Catholicism, but not his right-wing views.

Ngl this all made sense when I realized its a french film

i really love this video! thank you so much, I had no idea about eric rohmer until now. I'm looking forward to check them out :))

you have a nice commentary voice! i thoroughly enjoyed this.

Crazy how I saw the color of the film in the thumbnail and immediately thought Rohmer

how are guys like you able to effortlessly analyze a film, shot for hot, cut by cut, line by line, then compose your thoughts, then edit (i get overwhelmed trying to edit videos) a whole video? Id like to do that someday but I worry I'll analyze the film wrong or that I will miss something in a film that everyone else noticed.

Rohmer is my favorite director. Knowing Rohmer I don't think that his intentation was to make a gay film. However, this is a great film that can lead (as almost all of Rohmer's movies do) to a lot of interpretations and discussions.

Although quite different (unmoored from reality, & quite meta), Rivette's "Céline et Julie vont en bateau" shows a women's friendship with similar dynamics, and it would be interesting to compare the two movies. Just saying…

Have yet to see this film but it just moved up by watch later list 😅😊 great video! ❤

i loved this analysis :) great video ^^

perf rep for a queer platonic relationship

Thanks for this video! didn't know this movie existed

"You should watch this film, gay or not, because it is beautiful"

Ralph is that you?

rw artists are the best at documenting beauty and intimacy

Gonna keep an ear out for the book!

I love when lesbianism is depicted as complicated. Not a girl and a girl saying "I like you" and "Well I like you too" and they kiss and go through a romantic montage. Straight romance is not exactly like gay romance, usually, gay romance is a riddle, from the beginning to the end.

I suspect that this film may not be as overtly romantic because (besides the obvious heteronormativity that populated most of Rohmer's films) of the fact it's a side project made during a break in the production of The Green Ray, it's specifically structured to be sparse and quotidian with very low stakes, thus no extreme complications that are derived from romance. It's structured most similarly to The Aviator's Wife, another Rohmer film in with platonic main characters: a teenaged girl and adult man. I think it's also important to highlight Rohmer's consistent theme of irony in his approach to morality, his moral tales series are more emblematic of his affection for philosophy that dissects the nature of morality more than any political affiliation. Rohmer, despite his love of nature seems to have complex feelings about those who inhabit the countryside, he often portrays them as moralistic, naive, or anti-intellectual in spite of their tactility and charm. He expounds on this the most in his subtle takedown of provincialism in The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque, which is one of Rohmer's lesser favored films likely because it's less romantic and stylish. Reinette's gaucheness and fixation on morality is central to her character, thus disagreeing with Mirabelle stealing, her refusal to discuss her dating life, and her own humorous and markedly ignorant interpretations of her own art. I think the rudeness of the city dwellers is more about accentuating the schism between her rural sensibilities in contrast with urban ones, which is a big part of her relationship with Mirabelle as well. A big theme is geographic juxtaposition and how difficult it is to maintain amicability with those from different backgrounds, their friendship is so strong, it breaks that mold that we see throughout the film in Rienette's interactions with other city dwellers.

“How they are”, “how they can be” or “how they are in this movie”? Surely you don’t mean that men are an endless source of annoyance, full stop? A very curt way of expression And yes, Rohmer’s movies always have this underlying tension between characters, so I would think you are right

and they were friends

this was a brilliant fascinating video!

The first time I watched it I immediately thought the same thing and couldn't believe the amount of lesbian vibes this was giving off. I lowkey expected it to be confirmed before the end of the film but alas... Anyway, I remember stepping out of the theater wondering if I had been projecting my own lesbianism on it or if other people had picked up on it too hahaha

Gays I understand. Conservatives I do not.

a lot of movies have characters where they are 100% gay. watch a springtime tale. It's the most lesbian movie ever but the director refuses to have that happen, haha.

I hope you do a Rivette film next, especially because he's always contrasted with Rohmer

This movie was so pretty to watch :)

great video!! glad this video was recommended to me :D

i NEEDED this video. i needed my gaydar to be justified

Why watch this movie for the sake of intellectual baiting, when you can just intellectually bate..

Beautiful analysis!!

i have never seen this film but i agree with you 🙂‍↕

could you make a video on Call Me By Your Name (if you haven’t before)?

Ooooh this video was so good, thank you!!

most generic video essay ever made

For a movie from the 1980s, it looks like it came from 2015 😂

really really good video

"this guy was a clear conservative, he liked family and motality" Pretty sure a feminist director who explores mysogyny and the struggles of womanhood isn't a conservative, especially at that time. Do you consider family = homophobic?

It's so weird to see two attributes like conservative and feminist can coexist in one mind. Like you randomly dropped one of the most beautiful lesbian movie contemplating on genders norms and loves and went back living your old conservative way

Sorry for being off-topic, but does anyone know what kind of process gives this film its look?

hi, does anyone know where you can watch it with english subtitles? preferably for free

THATS WHAT IM SSAYINGG

great video i wish to see more

Am I tripping or did the thumbnail change??

ooh this is a great channel

um ótimo vídeo!!!

Oohh wait today is the 30th, what's the book's name??

very cool

Is this French Nana?

Hi which Rhomer film is this?

Movie name

I think this essay totally fails to grasp that Eric Rohmer was deeply fascinated about Theology. His films, especially in the later part of His career were studies regarding the dynamic between behavioral virtue and vice. How one, must overpower the other, at some point. And you see this dynamic especially in His filmography in the 80s to early 90s. It's quite sad that there's been a plethora of video essays that not only try to insist that a particular work is something than that of the intent of the people who made it. Yes, it's your opinion, but perhaps it's helpful to delve into the life and way of thinking of the person who made the work, before proposing that it means what you want it to mean, rather than the reality of it all.

Nice!

Since when is morallity a christian value?

Class s yuri like movie

❤

Bro lol even If ur conservative doesn't mean u don't support gay rights lol. ;D (I'm conservative lol)

I wonder could they possibly represent asexual/aromantic relationships

Looks interesting! Shame that it’s French, I couldn’t stomach watching that