Line #3 Film/SixMoralTales


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sixcontesmoraux_big.jpg]]
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3	->''When it is told, this story seems very banal. I hope I shall enrich it with a few nuances, because it's time for nuances, don't you think?''
4	-->-- '''Éric Rohmer''', at the end of his initial story outline for ''The Bakery Girl of Monceau''.
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6	''Six Moral Tales'' (French: ''Six contes moraux'') is a ThematicSeries of films (a 20-minute short film, a 50-minute featurette, and four feature length films) written and directed by French director Creator/EricRohmer that became his [[BreakthroughHit Breakthrough Hits]] in the world of cinema.
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8	Originally conceived as a collection of short stories written around 1950, Rohmer decided to group them all together once he realized that all the stories shared the same basic structure: a man is on the verge of committing to a relationship with a woman, only to be tempted by another, more intriguing woman.
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10	Made by Les Films du Losange, the production company started by Rohmer and fellow UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave filmmaker Barbet Schroeder (who also acted as producer), the films started out as NoBudget, spartan affairs, featuring a largely AmateurCast. As Rohmer's acclaim grew, he managed to attract big-name stars and shifted to filming in picturesque locations, but the films retained a certain DIY ethic, and established Rohmer's unique style of [[SpeechCentricWork Speech-centric]] SliceOfLife {{Dramedy}} .
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12	The tales are:
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14	* #1: ''[[Film/TheBakeryGirlOfMonceau The Bakery Girl of Monceau]]'' (''La Boulangère de Monceau''), 1962. Short film about a young law student whose pursuit of a mysterious woman he always sees out walking is derailed when he strikes up a flirtation with another woman who works at a local bakery.
15	* #2: ''[[Film/SuzannesCareer Suzanne's Career]]'' (''La Carrière de Suzanne''), 1963. Featurette about a young pharmacy student and his interactions with the seemingly naïve latest conquest of his womanizing friend.
16	* #3: ''[[Film/MyNightAtMauds My Night at Maud's]]'' (''Ma nuit chez Maud''), 1969. [[OutOfOrder Numbered third, but actually filmed fourth]]. A devoutly Catholic engineer spends Christmas night with a boyhood pal at the apartment of a sexy divorcee, only to become an object of her desire.
17	* #4: ''Film/LaCollectionneuse'' (Sometimes called ''The Collector'' in English), 1967. An art dealer vacations in the Riviera at a friend’s house, but keeps crossing paths with another guest, a [[ReallyGetsAround sexually adventurous]] young woman.
18	* #5: ''[[Film/ClairesKnee Claire's Knee]]'' (''Le Genou de Claire''), 1970. A career diplomat spends the summer before his wedding in his hometown in the French Alps, but finds himself strangely infatuated with a spirited teenager and her beautiful sister (or, more accurately, the sister’s knee).
19	* #6: ''[[Film/ChloeInTheAfternoon Chloe in the Afternoon]]'' (''L’Amour l’apres-midi'', sometimes called ''Love in the Afternoon'' in English), 1972. A businessman with a devoted wife and young child feels a bit restless with marriage, then has his world shaken up when the bold ex-girlfriend of an old acquaintance re-enters his life.
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21	Since Rohmer was a film critic and scholar, he was well-aware of the common LoveTropes in movies, and in many ways used this series to [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruct]] and [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] them.
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23	----
24	!! Tropes common to all six Moral Tales include:
25	* AllMenArePerverts: The male protagonists all present themselves as gentlemen who are only looking for true love, often in contrast to their CasanovaWannabe friends, but they're secretly obsessed with women, and don't quite know how to react when a woman throws herself at them.
26	* AuthorAvatar: It's usually agreed that the male protagonists are based on Rohmer himself, with ''The Bakery Girl of Monceau'' being semi-autobiographical.
27	* BettyAndVeronica: Frequently used. ''Chloe in the Afternoon'' is a straight example, but other films play with the dynamic, blurring the lines of which woman fits which archetype.
28	* CallBack: The women in the daydream scene in ''Chloe in the Afternoon'' are the main actresses from the previous three films—-Haydée Politoff (''La Collectionneuse''), Françoise Fabian and Marie-Christine Barrault (''My Night at Maud's''), Laurence de Monaghan and Béatrice Romand (''Claire's Knee''). Gérard Falconetti (Gilles in ''Claire's Knee'') also appears, once again as Monaghan's boyfriend.
29	* CantHaveSexEver: ''I Could Have Gotten Laid, But...'' could be the title for all six films. Most of the protagonists reject an opportunity for intimacy, ostensibly because of their moral code, but really due to other personality quirks.
30	* CasanovaWannabe: The best friend of the protagonist in several of the films.
31	* EthicalSlut: Several female characters who really get around but also have a strong sense of propriety in their relationships.
32	* LoveTriangle: The main thread in all six films, but [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] in different ways, and sometimes even turning into a LoveDodecahedron.
33	* MaleGaze: Many loving shots of the women, most memorably the slow upward pan of Haydée Politoff in a bikini at the beginning of ''La Collectionneuse'' and the close-up of Zouzou's naked rear end in ''Chloe in the Afternoon''.
34	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Chloe (''Chloe in the Afternoon'') most obviously, but Suzanne (''Suzanne's Career''), Haydée (''La Collectionneuse'') and Laura (''Claire's Knee'') also count, with Maud (''My Night at Maud's'') and Aurora (''Claire's Knee'') representing a more sophisticated, mature variation of the type.
35	* NoNameGiven: The male protagonists of ''The Bakery Girl of Monceau'' and ''My Night at Maud’s'' are never named.
36	* {{Novelization}}: In 1974 Rohmer published ''Six Moral Tales'' as a short story collection, updating the stories so they jibe better with the film versions.
37	* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: How the protagonist eventually sees the second woman by the end of the story, though that might not a [[UnreliableNarrator reliable]] opinion.
38	* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: The only music outside the credits of these films is diegetic.
39	* ReallyGetsAround: The woman who becomes the third side of the triangle usually behaves like this.
40	* RomanticComedy: All six films roughly fall into this genre, but avoid the usual formulas and cliches.
41	* SilentCredits: All the films end with a quick, silent FIN card.
42	* StalkerWithACrush: The protagonist pursuing Sylvie in ''Film/TheBakeryGirlOfMonceau'', the protagonist pursuing Françoise in ''My Night at Maud's'' and Chloe in ''Chloe/Love in the Afternoon'' all might count as this.
43	* UnreliableNarrator: According to Rohmer, these stories are all from the point of view of the protagonist many years later, recounting the events, and their version of what happened tends to be a bit self-serving.
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Context Film / SixMoralTales