My night with Maud

Movie
German title	My night with Maud
Original title	Ma nuit chez Maud
Country of production	France
original language	French
Publishing year	1969
length	110 minutes
Age rating	FSK 0
Rod
Director	Eric Rohmer
script	Eric Rohmer
production	Pierre Cottrell , ; Barbet Schroeder
music	Jacques Maumont , ; Jean-Pierre Ruh
camera	Néstor Almendros
cut	Cécile Decugis
occupation
	Jean-Louis Trintignant : Jean-Louis; Françoise Fabian : Maud; Marie-Christine Barrault : Françoise; Antoine Vitez : Vidal;
chronology
← Predecessor ; Suzanne's career	Successor → ; The Collector

My night at Maud (Original title: Ma nuit chez Maud ) is a French feature film from 1969 and the third part of the series Six moral stories by Éric Rohmer (after the time the films were made, it was the fourth part).

The dialogue-rich film deals with the opposing viewpoints of a Catholic engineer and a liberal woman on topics of religion and love. The religious themes refer to the writings of Blaise Pascal and are inspired by a dispute that took place in 1965 between Louis Marin and the Dominican Dominique Dubarle .

action

The film takes place in Clermont-Ferrand a few days before Christmas . The young engineer Jean-Louis, who had recently returned from abroad, notices a beautiful young, blonde woman named Françoise while attending a Catholic service and decides that she should become his wife.

He meets his old friend Vidal again. The staunch communist invites him to dinner with his divorced friend Maud. You spend the evening long discussions about marriage, morals and religion.

After Vidal said goodbye and Jean-Louis stayed, albeit reluctantly, the discussion turns to the subjects of loyalty and seduction. Finally, the dark-haired, seductive Maud offers Jean-Louis to stay with her on a platonic basis. He accepts the offer, but unlike Maud, he remains fully clothed when he slips under her covers.

The next morning, Jean-Louis speaks to Françoise and the two get married. Five years later, Maud happens to meet again in Brittany . Françoise recognizes this and surprises Jean-Louis with the revelation that his wife was once her husband's hated lover. For his part, Jean-Louis confesses to Françoise that he came from Maud when he spoke to her. Both agree to remain silent about their past and go to the sea for a swim with their son.

background

The other films in the cycle are the short film Die Bäckerin von Monceau (1962) and the feature films The Career of Suzanne (1963), The Collector (1967), Claire's Knie (1970) and Love in the Afternoon (1972).

Reviews

"A distanced and subtly designed dialogue film from the cycle of 'moral stories' developed in a calm picture rhythm," said the lexicon of international films . It is about "[e] ine stimulating, at a high intellectual level settled discussion of morals and ethics in the relationships of people". The conclusion of the evangelical film observer was: “A brilliantly made film, especially in its cool, distant perspective, stimulating thoughts and discussions about the value of moral principles and various aspects of love. Recommended for adults. "