Fifth about The Seventh

The Collector (La Collectionneuse)

The Collector: the dialogue in this film by Éric Rohmer is proffered by characters that have no interest whatsoever in human connections. It is all a mildly perverse game of seduction done by people with too much time in their hands as they freeload in a charming old villa near the beaches of the French Riviera. The characters are unsympathetic in a dull way, and hard to care for one way or the other. The performances don’t help, as the dialogue (and the voice-over) is read in a theatrical, overly declamatory way, with an ironic smirk. Patrick Bauchau plays the art dealer who starts and narrates the games, while Haydée Politoff plays the young seductress that gives the film its title. Cinematographer Néstor Almendros shot this beautifully, giving the film a much-needed sensory feeling with the beautiful colours and the very sensuous way Politoff is portrayed.

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