Review of La Collectionneuse (1967) by Ryan H — 06 Apr 2010

A perfect film in every way. I love the way that Rohmer always made his films like literature, but it never feels forced. The entire time I felt like laughing at Adrien because of how he always thought that Haydee was falling for him.

In fact, to the audience it seems like she is highly uninterested. Adrien keeps thinking that she is going after Daniel to get his attention, or acting uninterested to get him interested. From the beginning Adrien says he thinks that she will be a thorn in his side, and it turns out to be true.

He just wanted to vacation without any thoughts and be to himself, but there is no way he can do that when such a beautiful and intriguing girl such as Haydee is around. Or at least Adrien seems to think she's intriguing.

But we know from Haydee's prologue that she doesn't have a single thought in her head. She doesn't have some large scheme, Adrien just needs to stay out of his head and stop messing around with her.

Daniel says that he doesn't want anything to do with Haydee because he is bored with the girls that every guy wants, yet he turns to her because Adrien talks him into it. My question: did Haydee really collect men or was she just honestly looking for some fun? Or maybe her fun was her collection? I feel like this might give her too much credit, which is odd for a French New Wave film.

But Rohmer tells us that women are strong and independent with Adrien's prologue, which can set us up for putting in a woman without thought for the rest of the film. It's shot beautifully, the actors are brilliant, and I love the witty dialogue.

This is just as good or better than Suzanne's career.