Rohmer, Eric, 1920–, French film director and writer, b. Jean-Marie Maurice Schérer. He was a founder (1950) of La Gazette du cinéma, cowrote (1957) a study of Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock, Sir Alfred, 1899–1980, English-American film director, writer, and producer, b. London. Hitchcock began his career as a director in 1925 and became prominent with The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938).
..... Click the link for more information. , and edited (1957–63) the influential journal Cahiers du cinéma. A figure in France's cinematic "New Wave," he made short films in the 1950s before directing his first feature, The Sign of Leo (1959), in which he initiated his typically calm and intellectual style, emphasizing the flow of conversation and ideas and portraying little physical action. In 1962 he began a cycle of six "moral tales" that explore relationships between men and women, achieving popular and critical success with My Night at Maud's (1969), Claire's Knee (1970), and Chloe in the Afternoon (1972). After two period dramas, The Marquise of O (1976) and Perceval (1978), he began another contemporary cycle, "comedies and proverbs," highlighted by the acclaimed Pauline at the Beach (1983) and Summer (1986). Rohmer's later films include his "Four Seasons" quartet (1990–98) and the historical The Lady and the Duke (2001).

Bibliography

See study by C. G. Crisp (1988).

Rohmer, Eric

orig. Jean-Marie-Maurice Scherer

(born April 4, 1920, Nancy, France) French film director. After working as a schoolteacher, he became a founding editor of La Gazette du Cinéma in 1950 and later editor of the influential New Wave periodical Cahiers du Cinéma (1957–63). After directing several short films, he made a series of contes moraux (“moral tales”) that included the successful films My Night at Maud's (1968), Claire's Knee (1970), and Chloe in the Afternoon (1972), sensitively observed studies of romantic love. His later films include The Marquise of O (1976), Full Moon in Paris (1984), and Autumn Tale (1999).