Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) User Reviews

Humorous Film

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 14 March 2017]

Reinette and Mirabelle are two young women. Reinette lives in the countryside, Mirabelle in Paris. They meet during a holiday of Mirabelle in the country, when Reinette helps her to repair the tube of her bicycle and shows her the beauties of nature and in particular the 'blue hour'.

This is the classic meeting of the "city mouse" and the "country mouse". While the country mouse knows such things as how to cook and fix bicycles, she does not concern herself with such high-minded concepts as "ethnology". In her domain, she is the queen.

But we also see stories here where it pays to be a smart city mouse... through deception and cunning, you can get what you want in ways the innocent, sincere person never can. The interactions with both the waiter and the art dealer are just so good and really make this film a treasure.

Interesting.

[SameirAli · 8/10 · 4 December 2021]

Do you like experimental films? Do you like films that are amusing and curious to watch, but, not very particular to have a well made star to end story? Then, this film is for you. It's a story about two girls in 4 sections. Interesting movie, and I liked it.

Slight but worthwhile

[Andy-296 · 7/10 · 23 November 2014]

A relatively unknown effort from 1987 by French director Eric Rohmer is slight but worthwhile. The four "adventures" of the title are really slight stories which our two protagonists go through, with some moral lesson to be learned.

In the first episode, the tough, sophisticated law student Mirabelle (Jessica Forde) goes to the countryside where she meets Reinette, a painter and naive country girl (played by Joelle Miquel, who is great).The next three episodes have Mirabelle returning to her native Paris bringing the innocent Reinette along her. A lot of the situations have to do on how the natural country honesty of Reinette is tested in the cynical big city. The episode I liked best was the second one, in which Reinette has to deal with a very rude waiter at a bar. The third one (which is mostly about how Mirabelle decides to help a shoplifter to Reinette's dismay) is weaker, but the final episode, in which Reinette tries to sell her paintings to an art dealer despite having put on herself a vow of silence, is fine.

Some actors from previous Rohmer movies (like Beatrice Romand, Marie Riviere and Fabrice Luchini) have bit parts here.

I love this!

[zetes · 10/10 · 15 June 2002]

The more Rohmer I see, the greater my appreciation and love grows for him. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle is a wonderful film about a Parisian girl and a girl from the country who meet, become friends, and then move in together in an apartment in Paris. The film consists of little more than the two girls living their lives, sharing their philosophies, and acting on those philosophies. The two lead performances, by Joelle Miquel (Reinette) and Jessica Forde (Mirabelle) are outstanding. And then there are a lot of colorful - but not too colorful - side characters in the four tales, like the extraordinarily rude waiter (Philippe Laudenbach) and the art dealer (Fabrice Luchini, the star of my favorite Rohmer film, the incomparably unique Perceval le gallois). This is a film for people who love people, their thoughts, and their talk. 10/10.

That sly clown Rohmer does it again and again

[Aw-komon · 9 April 2001]

I read in a short critique of Rohmer recently the perfect sentence to describe his work and how to approach it: "It is when we let Rohmer's irony (the incongruence of his characters) be a seed of self-reflection within ourselves that his films take on a transcendent dimension." The transcendent dimension that all great works of art have is there but you have to let the irony become a seed of self-reflection first, you have to actively participate, hence the reason why many people find Rohmer's films boring. They don't even realize what they're missing and don't want to know! The closer a Rohmer film is to soap opera on the surface and the less offbeat it is the more money it makes (the recent "Autumn's Tale" made a very impressive 2 million dollars on the art-house circuit but I, for one, thought it was just o.k.), but ALL of them have depth if you look for it.

Rohmer's films slowly and quietly build into elaborate structures of subtly hilarious sophistication which get better with each viewing (letting the irony really take root and become a seed of self-reflection). They are all (on the surface at least) very similar: done low-budget but with quietly superb and magnificent cinematography, maximum conversation, minimum hi-jinks or action, relying on subtlety and the viewer's undivided attention and engagement to reveal their deep humor and depth. All of Rohmer's films make fun of human folly and vanity in a way that's entirely unprecedented, true-to-life, and unique in the cinema. Critics have labeled the term 'classicist' on his head but I don't know of any filmmakers or artists, outside of some of the great satirical novelists of the 19th century, who have approached their subject in this way. There is an incredible amount of pure cinema in Rohmer but done in a way that's completely invisible when the viewer's not seeking it out, absolutely devoid of any tendencies to show-off and draw attention to itself.

"Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle" is about two young girls, one a surrealistic-painter from the country, the other-- a law-student from Paris , both very pretty and charming, who strike up a friendship and go through a few neurotic and enlightening incidents together both in the city and the country: trying to wake up at the moment of absolute silence every morning when night-birds stop chirping and morning birds are still asleep; dealing with a rude Paris cafe waiter; dealing with pan-handlers trying to hustle them for change; moral dilemmas about shoplifting; selling Reinette's painting without her having to speak one word to the gallery owner because she's sticking to a vow of silence she made the day before; etc. The Very Funny and valuable results are captured by Rohmer in his trademark, meditative, and un-intrusive style. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

An unlikely friendship?

[robin_go · 8/10 · 3 June 2019]

Adventure one sees townie Mirabelle, who has never really had cause to take time to observe nature, experience a series of minor revelations about country life. Experiences that, curiously, she doesn't seem to carry back home into the Parisian episodes. Indeed the first episode feels like a film-apart, largely because it's not referred back to. The remaining adventures concern how Reinette's fixed ideas cause her headaches in the city. While it's easy to have a set of unwaivering morals and manners living a more solitary life in the country, it's not as easy in 'the big smoke'. Discovering Parisians have a much more fluid moral compass causes Reinette horror and the viewer a degree of amusement. Indeed Episode Two is Rohmer doing, of all things, broad comedy - complete with a Fawlty-esque waiter. The director also diverts from his well-trodden path with the absence of romance from this movie (accordingly the film storms through the Bechdel test). I also loved the fact there also isn't the shadow of parental influence, the church or a peer group which sometimes operate, with varying degrees of success, in Rohmer's work. The girls really only have each other as a soundboard and that makes the new friendship between these unlikely flatmates all the more engaging.

Daily life may have its charm

[valadas · 7/10 · 5 October 2013]

I love Eric Rohmer's movies mainly those in which, like in this one, he shows normal daily life that can have important episodes which can be gracious, humorous, even sometimes having poetry or a bit of mystery, unexpectedness and adventure. He shows his characters thinking and philosophizing about apparently simple things and behaviours and those thoughts often contrast with real life events. We can also see through the dialogues the contrast of the universe of values we may have in mind and the real world outside. In this movie two young girls meet by chance when one of them has got a flat tyre while riding a bicycle in the countryside and the other one offers to help her to solve the problem. From now on they become close friends though they are very different in temperament, mentality and behaviour. The one who lives in the country goes to Paris and the other one who lived there already, shares her apartment with her new friend. Both are university students, the Parisian one in Ethnology and the country one in Fine Arts. After the first adventure of her meeting they live in Paris 3 more episodes of daily life which were adventurous but without going much beyond the natural and ordinary and shown with great simplicity but also with great mastery. Only in my opinion the fourth and last episode is a bit too fanciful but the movie is good in its whole despite that.

The movie Rohmer made in his spare time

[Red-125 · 9/10 · 14 August 2022]

4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (1987) was written and directed by Éric Rohmer. Rohmer had some down time while directing the film Le Rayon vert, and used that time to make this interesting movie.

Joëlle Miquel plays Reinette, who is spending the summer in an isolated cottage near her rural home . Jessica Forde portrays Mirabelle, a Parisian who is vacationing in the area for the summer. The two women become friends. In the Fall, they share an apartment in Paris, where Reinette attends art school, and Mirabelle attends the Sorbonne.

Rohmer has divided the movie into four parts. The first part is when the two women meet. The other three parts are incidents that occur to one or both of them.

As in all of Rohmer's films, dialog is the very important. The women talk and argue throughout the film. Unlike many of Rohmer's films, things happen to them and those things are the basis of their discussions. (Usually, his characters just talk about relationships.)

The events include encounters with a shoplifter, a rude waiter, homeless people, and the owner of an art gallery.

The film is colorful, interesting, and easy to watch. It's not a masterpiece, but it's worth finding and watching. 4 aventures has a solid IMDb rating of 7.5. I thought it was even better then that, and rated it 9.

I wish Rohmer had worked with Jessica Forde in more of his films!

[jenaardell · 8/10 · 23 December 2021]

Reinette's antics are meant to irritate, and Mirabelle is why you keep watching. This dynamic of contrasting characters (the 'neurotic' complimented by 'the cooler friend'), often appears in Rohmer films: there's melodramatic Blanche and likeable Léa in L'Ami de mon amie; childish Magali and demure Isabelle in Conte d'automne; and unbearable Sabine and beautiful Clarisse in Le Beau Mariage.

The grocery store scene in Four Adventures stands out as the highlight of the film to me. Rohmer took us through the most interesting scene in what felt like real-time, and then, in the very next scene, allowed Mirabelle to describe the event to Reinette. Was she going to exaggerate or tell the truth?! I thought that was a brilliant little moment, where we were able to be voyeurs not once, but twice.

Overall, this little gem about an unlikely friendship puts you exactly where you want to be: living in Rohmer's France for 1 hour and 39 minutes. My only complaint is: I wished Rohmer had worked with Jessica Forde (the actress who plays Mirabelle) in more of his films. She was a natural; one of my favorite Rohmerettes.

Brilliant examination of friendship and their resolve against the subtle pressures that can be caused by capitalism.

[rdolan9007 · 10/10 · 28 September 2022]

Four adventures with Reinette and Mirabelle is an oddity. It is nevertheless a peculiar and beautiful film which seems to say nothing, and yet in an exquisitely quiet way suggests truths about how we live and how perhaps we should make adjustments to how we live. On the surface it is the charming, gently awkward friendship between two young women, probably in their late teens, may be 17 - 19 years old. There are perhaps hints of an intimate relationship between them, but this film doesn't actually concern itself with that, which another perhaps lesser film might have concentrated on. The film really cares about their friendship to the exclusion of almost everything else. Reinette does have a boyfriend but he is only mentioned in a brief aside early on, and he is never heard of again.

They meet in the countryside where Reinette has a puncture whilst on her bike, and seeks help from Mirabelle a passer-by. Reinette first asks where the nearest garage is, only to be told it is five miles away. Mirabelle's house is very close by however, and she soon help repairs the wheel for Mirabelle. They strike up a friendship almost immediately, and she stays overnight, to Mirabelle's obvious delight. Mirabelle's house is a partially run-down old farmhouse. Think one of those beloved by an upper middle-class British family/me, wanting somewhere idyllic to do up in pastoral, rural France. It is unexplained why Mirabelle lives on her won in such a rundown property, but such details are not important in this film.

Mirabelle turns out to be someone trying to be an artist. Her work is surreal with near abstract figures of naked women portrayed in minimalist backgrounds. She is seemingly naïve, blithe, with a childlike gregariousness. She is very talkative, in a moment beautifully played against herself by Reinette, later on in the film.

Reinette is quieter, more sardonic, perhaps like us intrigued by Mirabelle, but perhaps she is quietly baffled as well. They don't really quarrel in the film but when an argument arises, Reinette gently but very firmly puts the opposing view across.

Mirabelle also shows her life in a nearby rural farm where she is friends with the farmers there. Reinette is introduced to a variety of goats, and chickens, as well as a shy horse. They also see some of the crops being grown by the farmers. It is the way this is done which is so marvelous; just quietly understated points being made about the nature of the rural life. It fits in with an important theme of silence in the early part of film, and perhaps even more importantly having time for contemplation that the natural world gives you. This is a not a film which imposes anything so 'crass' as a logical narrative or an unseemly pace on you. This not a film of massive incidents, but those that might occur as interesting or revealing in an ordinary run of the mill day. The countryside scenes are just the prelude however to where most of the film takes place.

Reinette is studying in Paris, doing a degree in ethnology. She describes it as the study of people to Mirabelle, and then she offers to share a flat with Mirabelle which she pays rent on in Paris. This makes it feasible for Mirabelle to study art in Paris. This arrangement suits both of them and the film then progresses to Paris; a few months on from their first encounter.

It is in Paris where the characters of both are explored in greater detail. There are everyday situations which develop unexpected edges and show an unexpected robustness to their characters. There is a dispute with a French waiter over a note that he can't or refuses to change for a bill to be paid. A simple request for directions becomes an argument for two bystanders both men trying to describe the right way to get somewhere. There is an exchange where Mirabelle lends someone money in a train station, who may or may not be a con artist. Those are the relatively minor incidents that make up a significant proportion of the film.

Yet the film has a couple of other incidents which are more significant in perhaps they get to the heart of what this film is really about and that is the subtle effects of capitalism, and morality.

Reinette (to the disdain of Mirabelle) in the retelling of an incident, has helped an unknown shoplifter escape from two store detectives. There is quietly thrilling exchange about the morality of Reinette's action which doesn't lead as you might expect to a furious dispute, but a firm and resolutely calm argument. It is a marvelous scene and it shows the strength of their friendship, but in a none showy, subtle way.

The films key scene is the final one, were the girls try to sell a piece of Mirabelle's art to and art dealer. They hope to dupe him into paying more than they thinks it's worth, and to their obvious delight it works, but here the film plays a twist on the girls, and we see that art dealer is selling the art on for a much higher price than he bought the art from the girls. It's a superbly done scene, both humorous but sharp as well. This final scene suggests what the film has been about but done so skilfully and gently, the effect only gradually makes you realise that the true enemy of the piece is capitalism, and what it does to people on an everyday level. This makes the film seem like a communist manifesto piece, but that would be a slight misreading because the points it makes are far more considered and subtle. They probably will give you pause for thought, long after the film has finished.

This film will not be for everyone, and the pace of this film and seemingly innocuous events will be irritatingly tedious to some. This is one of those films that you do have to concentrate on and be patient with, as every point and scene will add up to a full and rounded hole. It is a useful critique of capitalism, and how we have to live within the everyday demands it makes upon us, whether we want that or not. It harks back subtly to the countryside and a simpler and seemingly more communal world. This film success really does depend on your interest in the main characters, and because they are so delightfully played, their unexpected steeliness helps defy your expectations.

Your enjoyment of your film probably depends on how much work you the viewer enjoys doing, and there is a danger with some realistic films you can find yourself detached and distanced from the film. This film however for me gets the balance right. It explores the everyday world, but also with characters that absorb the influence of that world, and I think simply wins you over with its charm.

for Rohmer enthusiasts only

[mjneu59 · 5/10 · 21 November 2010]

A typical Eric Rohmer film is not unlike the ideal croissant: a light and flaky taste of empty calories. His fans don't expect anything more, and will likely find four times the fun in this quartet of mini-parables involving two young pals with very little in common. Reinette is a naive and slightly neurotic child of nature, while Mirabelle is the more demure, sophisticated city girl, and their so-called adventures don't amount to much more than mildly comic pokes at all-too human idiosyncrasies. Each of the four stories exhibits varying degrees of cleverness and charm, but with no binding continuity between them and no real motive or resolution (all part of their appeal, no doubt) the end result is a whimsical but insignificant movie, easy enough to enjoy but difficult to recall in detail twenty minutes later.

Slow, quiet and beautiful

[Jonathan-18 · 24 February 1999]

I think I used the same words about Eric Rohmer's Conte d'hiver, who also directed this movie, about two friends who meet in the country and later live together in Paris, consists of 4 segments. All four slow-paced and totally true to life. The two great actresses, the dialogs and the storylines themselves are all taken out of life, almost documentary-like. I liked the third one the most. It is a true joy to see these two different friends. They are a quiet couple in Paris quite different from the the two friends in also recommended La Vie Revee Des Anges.

Unfailingly pleasant, smart, and thoughtful

[I_Ailurophile · 9/10 · 29 May 2023]

For lack of major drama or any but a rather light narrative I can understand how this won't necessarily appeal to all comers, and to be honest I'd have said the same myself at one time. Yet there's something joyfully pure and wholesome about this movie in a way that we get so very rarely, and it's plainly enchanting in its earnest simplicity, however much or little happens in each vignette. As Reinette and Mirabelle meet, become fast friends, freely talk, and share experiences, the picture evokes nostalgia for our own youth, or perhaps for the childhood or like experiences we wish we had, and makes one yearn for a less cynical time. It almost comes across that 'Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle' is more of a slice of life portraiture than it is a feature with a written script. Alternatively, in some measure it also brings to mind the type of fare one might see on public access television in "after school" hours to teach kids about this or that, impart gentle lessons, or inspire critical thinking. In what ever way one wishes to describe it, it's absolutely delightful!

Unsophisticated and lighthearted as the film it bears tremendous warmth, and across each bit we're also treated to sly comedy and underhanded commentary, or food for thought. The first "episode," "L'heure bleue," depicts the two girls meeting and immediately striking up a friendship, and at the same time viewers kind of learn about rural life at the same time that Mirabelle does (for American viewers of a certain age, 'Mister Roger's neighborhood' may come to mind). Next, "Le garcon de café" ups the ante as the duo encounter a surly waiter, and the humor borne of the frustration is paired with a sort of exercise in managing difficult interactions. Third vignette "Le mendiant, la kleptomane et l'arnaqueuse" is a little more complex as Reinette and Mirabelle discuss their perspectives on certain people on the fringes of society, and there's understated themes about not rushing to judge someone you know nothing about. Lastly, providing a tad more abject plot as the first segment had, "La vente du tableau" is genuinely funny as the pair go about selling a painting, and the picture cheekily says a little something about how people talk, and how much.

Even the design of the opening and closing credits, and the title cards, and Jean-Louis Valéro's playful original music, reinforce that mirthful frivolity, and those airs of entertainment mixed with education. Meanwhile, Joëlle Miquel and Jessica Forde portray Reinette and Mirabelle with such believable camaraderie and dynamics, marked by splendid range and nuance, that one could be forgiven for forgetting that this was built off a screenplay. To that end, filmmaker Éric Rohmer has blessed us with a gift, for there aren't that many motion pictures that come across with this much verisimilitude, let alone heart. The characters and dialogue are very real, and the scene writing and narrative are simply wonderful in the good spirit and intelligence they demonstrate. Rohmer's direction, too, shows a superbly delicate hand, letting all of these ninety-nine minutes feel very natural. The filming locations and production design unquestionably lend to that sense, and by all means everyone else behind the scenes did a fantastic job in that same vein, not least costume design, hair, and makeup. Though I suppose it's true in cinema generally, here it's extra weird to some degree to think about how much work went into making a fictional tale seem anything but.

This may not seem like much on the outside. I'll be the first to admit that I chose to watch just on a whim, and I could have just as easily overlooked it. Taking a pass would be a mistake, however, for 'Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle' is very well made, highly enjoyable, and so much smarter and more skillful in its storytelling than the premise portends. I'm so very pleased that I came across this and decided to watch, and while it may not meet the personal preferences of all viewers, frankly I happily give this a blanket recommendation for one and all. If you have the chance to watch, as far as I'm concerned this is well worth anyone's time. Cheers!

3.23.2024

[EasonVonn · 9/10 · 23 March 2024]

No one can imagine how Rohmer's freneticism of colors, natural setting, and petit trivia.

Two girls, one lives in modernity and one lives in a rural area. The chemicals between both two somehow completely different but shared cultivated values of society unfolded in 4 separate stories.

The first one is the best for me, the most beautiful cinema comes from nature. Then the second and third get a little closer to the conventional drama of people's heterogeneity in the modern city. It's enjoyable to see Joelle Miquel's stupendous unfamiliarity conjured in this Rohmer-comedy.

The fourth then gets back to the silence topic, corresponding to the first one's "blue hour", Rohmer also challenges the concept of languages and silences with his jocular dialogues (though they are mostly modified by actresses).

Best use of colors, and It could be a quiet chick-flick, the waiter's persona is very misandrist. Rohmer's style is, slow, quiet, beautiful, modernism.

Metrograph (I sneaked in for Rohmer, the ticket was sold out. Thank God New York is raining, so that not everyone came for it)

What is it about pear trees?

[calorne · 8/10 · 22 August 2022]

The film I watched before this one wad the Wild Pear tree set in Turkey. This film, set in France, also featured a pear tree - Although to me it looked rather large for a pear tree, even though 100 years old.

Both films were hampered by over long dialogue scenes, this much one less so than the other. There was one scene, however, discussing how to handle criminality that I found rather too lengthy and it became a bit irksome.

Overall I really enjoyed the interaction between the two main characters. I also enjoyed the humour, particularly within the cafe and gallery scenes.

There were a lot of rooms with decorations that put me in mind of colours from the Farrow and Ball colour chart. I found myself trying to recall the names of the various colours.

Harking back to the scene in the gallery, I think that the ending was very well done indeed and had me applauding in my living room.

the nadir of Rohmer's work

[realreel · 25 February 2003]

I'm a huge Rohmer fan. I've seen all of the Moral Tales, the Comedies & Proverbs and the Tales of the Four Seasons. I dislike this particular film tremendously. Along with "Rendez-Vous in Paris," it represents Rohmer at his worst... moralistic, pedantic and amateurish. I've seen better summer camp skits than the bit at the cafe, the scene at the train station and the business at the art gallery. Frankly, with the exception of "The Blue Hour", the project is a wash. Joelle Miquel and Philippe Laudenbach deliver terrible, over-the-top performances, and even the great Fabrice Luchini seems foolish and out of place. Jessica Forde is passable as the jaded town rat. The only stand out (at least in a positive sense) is Marie Riviere who, as always, is entirely believable.

I'm not sure why this project got such a high IMDb rating. I can only think that people like the two-name films ("Celine and Julie", "Fanny and Alexander", etc.) because they sound whimsically playful. Rohmer has an excellent sense of humor (e.g., Conte d'ete, Boyfrends and Girlfriends, etc.), but this is not a delightful little caprice. With the exception of the first 20 minutes or so, it's a student project. Note also the horrendous original electronic music. Rohmer often refrains entirely from the use of music, and this is one case where he should have shown his usual restraint.