Six Moral Tales

In the second of Rohmer's moral tales, he examines the relationship between two friends and a girl who at first appears easily exploited. It is a complex tale of feelings and misconceptions, acted out within the head of the main character, as part of Rohmer's attempt to more easily simulate the mindscape quality of literature within a film.

Adrien travels to a villa on the Riviera. He is on vacation and plans to relax. He shares the villa with a friend, Daniel, and a female stranger, Haydée. Haydée has many lovers, and both Adrien and Daniel despise her at first, but Adrien soon becomes more and more intrigued and infatuated.

A solitary and devout engineer, Jean-Louis, relocates for a new job, where his only solace is his unwavering faith. Mesmerized by a mysterious blonde woman he sees at Mass, he becomes convinced she is destined to be his wife. Jean-Louis is invited to dinner at her apartment. As snow traps Jean-Louis overnight, his steadfast beliefs are tested, forcing him to confront his desires and the rigid principles he has always held dear.

As he prepares to marry a diplomat's daughter, Jerome embarks on his last summer as a bachelor on Lake Annecy. Meeting Aurora, an old flame, he finds himself attracted to young Laura, but even more so to her captivating older sister, Claire. When she exposes her knee while climbing a ladder under a cherry blossom tree, she inadvertently triggers a moral dilemma for Jerome, epitomizing one of the most enduring Nouvelle Vague scenes from one of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales.

Frédéric is a young and successful Parisian businessman who has daily fantasies about women who are not his wife. He has no intention of being unfaithful to Helene, who is expecting their second child, until one day everything changes. Chloé, the former girlfriend of a friend of his, reappears in his life to shake his desire and rethink his morals. In this latest installment of moral tales, Eric Rohmer explores the complexities of love and fidelity.