Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) for SAM Films

 

Eric Rohmer never owned a car. He thought they were immoral. Wherever he went he walked. It is written that Rohmer never told his mother his true profession. She went to her grave never having seen his films. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) questions the effect our words and actions have in changing one another. Rohmer wrote for his character Reinette to speak, “When nature’s totally silent, it’s scary.” To contribute to this world, one must be listening. 

THE BLUE HOUR. Mirabelle (Jessica Forde) rides her bicycle down a road surrounded by thistle and tall grasses alive with birdsong. Mirabelle listens to music on her headphones. She stops because of a flat. Reinette (Joëlle Miquel) returning home from her stroll answers Mirabelle’s call for help, “I’ll fix it for you.” Mirabelle lives in Paris. Reinette lives on her family’s land. A hundred years ago a tree was planted there the day her great grandmother was born. Reinette is a painter. Mirabelle studies ethnography. She tells Reinette that her work is “surrealistic,” a word Reinette can’t pronounce. Reinette teaches Mirabelle to fix her tire. “I’ve never been in countryside like this. The silence is wonderful. It’s never like this in Paris. Always a car driving by, or a neighbor’s hi-fi, it’s a steady drone,” Mirabelle says as they eat supper outside under the trees and darkening sky. Reinette glad for company invites Mirabelle to stay, “If I talk too much you can leave.” They are the same age. Trusting one another, they want to share what of the world they have learned. Reinette asks, “Heard of the blue hour? It’s not an hour...just a minute really. Just before dawn, there’s a minute of silence. The day birds aren’t up yet, and the night birds are already asleep. Then there’s real silence.” They sleep on cots side by side. They wake. In their white night gowns like soft flames they stand outside in the tall grass. The sound of truck tires on the road tears through what was supposed to be the silence. Mirabelle has brought the noises of the city with her. The next day they visit Reinette’s neighbors’ farm, noisy with geese and goats. Mirabelle climbs the fence to get to their horse. She questions the farmer who is good natured and laughs showing his few teeth. Mirabelle wakes at dawn and goes out into the field. Reinette follows. They stand a few feet apart. This time they hear the silence. Mirabelle runs to Reinette. They embrace. 

THE WAITER. Mirabelle and Reinette share an apartment. They plan to meet at a cafe after classes. Mirabelle gives Reinette directions. Reinette gets lost. In Paris she is the guest. She finds the café and sits at a small table on the terrace to wait. The waiter has the mentality of a master looking for a slave. “Pay me now please,” he tells Reinette as soon as he brings her coffee. She hands him 200 francs. He claims he can’t make change and becomes irate. He doesn’t believe she is waiting for a friend. Reinette tries to explain. He tells her she can’t get up out of her seat. She can’t leave. He wants what she doesn’t have, exact change. Reinette is stuck as though her tire had a flat. The waiter controls the scene. Mirabelle shows up and states the obvious, “We can go elsewhere. There are lots of cafés in Paris.” The girls run down the street. The next day Reinette returns to the café. She believes the rules apply no matter the circumstance. “Where’s the waiter who was on yesterday?” she asks a man with a mustache standing behind the counter. He answers, “He was just a fill-in. What’s it about?” Reinette hands him the money she owes. Satisfied with herself, she walks out the door. 

THE BEGGAR, THE KLEPTOMANIAC, THE HUSTLER. A chill has set in. Mirabelle and Reinette wear warm coats. Reinette hands a few francs to a beggar. Mirabelle doesn’t agree, “He didn’t look nice enough.” She can’t be bothered with every beggar on the street, “They’re all hungry, they all need money. That’s it.” In Paris one doesn’t have neighbors like Reinette did with the goats and the geese. At a grocery store, Mirabelle steals the blue bag of a shoplifter. She means to help this beautiful brunette by giving her back the stolen loot, but the woman drives away. Mirabelle brings the bag home. Reinette thinks she should have gone instead to the police. In the train station, Reinette gives a woman change for her ride home but then realizes she is a hustler. No longer friendly, Reinette becomes demanding like the waiter was, “I did you a favor because of your sob story. That’s called fraud!” The woman cries, “I need money, I’m broke, I’m all alone.” Reinette softens. 

SELLING THE PAINTING. Mirabelle and Reinette live together; their differences show. Reinette hates fraud. Mirabelle hates hypocrisy. Reinette is painting and content. Mirabelle is bored and wants excitement. They don’t seem likely partners. In the countryside they were close. In Paris they walk in and out of each other’s rooms. Mirabelle wants quiet. Reinette wants to talk. They call out one another’s discrepancies in their conversations. It is Reinette’s month to pay the rent. She is broke and considers moving back to her hayloft in the country. With Mirabelle she has talked herself into a corner and vows to spend the next day in silence. However the next day she has an appointment at a gallery to sell one of her paintings. To keep her vow she’ll have to perform a deception. Mirabelle will need to speak for Reinette with the gallerist so they can make the rent. Reinette pretends to reads lips, to be mute. That this is fraud is lost on her. In Paris, one will be on the street if one can’t pay for a place to live.