If Rohmer’s films are all about the long game, Claire’s Knee might be his slipperiest serve. On the surface it’s just a languid Alpine holiday: sun-bleached days, boats bobbing on Lac d’Annecy, elegant chatter over too-warm wine. But at its centre sits Jérôme, a thirty-something diplomat who spends the summer explaining—almost as if to camera—why the curve of a teenager’s knee has him in such a spin. It’s deeply uncomfortable, and Rohmer knows it. The film doesn’t excuse his fixation; it quietly dares us to sit with it.
What follows is a masterclass in psychological fencing. Rohmer’s talky script strips away melodrama and leaves only self-justifications, shifting boundaries, and the creeping question of whether Jérôme will cross the line. Every idle ramble lands like a feint in a chess match. The finale, when it comes, is pure Rohmer: no fireworks, just the quiet sting of implication.
Yes, it’s thorny. And yes, you’re meant to feel the discomfort. But beneath the sun-dappled charm lies a razor-sharp study of ego, control, and the lies we tell ourselves when the stakes are low—but the consequences are not.
I know this is supposed to be one of Rohmer's masterpeice's but I much prefer his later works. It's hard to enjoy some of his films where all the character's are not likeable and going through middle class existential crises. In this film the lead character is particularly unattractive - partly because I couldn't see the point of his need to control his emotions to touch Claire's knee but mostly because his lerching after young girls was thoroughly disturbing. Perhaps reflects the time it was made?