Cinema and the Classroom: Education in the Work of Eric Rohmer

Article sample:

The most delightful of Eric Rohmer's early shorts is Véronique et son cancre (Véronique and Her Dunce, 1958), the story of a stylish young woman (Nicole Berger) giving grinds to – and effectively babysitting – an unruly pupil (Alain Delrieu). As with many apprentice works, the blueprint for Rohmer's 'mature' cinema is easy to trace – the discord between female and male, expressed through the interaction of dialogue, body language, costume, décor and space. But it foregrounds one theme that will recur throughout his films, and serves to unite the disparate aspects of his biography and his work as a cinema theorist, as a television professional, and as creator of some of French cinema's most beloved works: education.

About Senses of Cinema:

Senses of Cinema is an online journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema. We believe cinema is an art that can take many forms, from the industrially-produced blockbuster to the hand-crafted experimental work; we also aim to encourage awareness of the histories of such diverse forms. As an Australian-based journal, we have a special commitment to the regular, wide-ranging analysis and critique of Australian cinema, past and present. Senses of Cinema is primarily concerned with ideas about particular films or bodies of work, but also with the regimes (ideological, economic and so forth) under which films are produced and viewed, and with the more abstract theoretical and philosophical issues raised by film study.