Synopsis
The Bakery Girl of Monceau (1963) is Éric Rohmer's first short film, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Twenty-three minutes of black-and-white Paris, narrated in the dry voice of its own protagonist. It opened Rohmer's celebrated cycle, the Six Moral Tales.
A law student spends his lunch breaks in the Monceau district, quietly circling a tall, aloof beauty named Sylvie (Michèle Girardon). He finally works up the nerve to speak to her, and she promptly vanishes. Wandering the streets hungry in search of her, he drifts into a neighborhood bakery and, almost without noticing, begins flirting with the modest girl behind the counter. Then Sylvie reappears. The young man is played by Barbet Schroeder, years before he became a respected director and producer himself.
This is where Rohmer first sharpened the approach that would define him: a calm, watchful look at how a man talks himself into doing the convenient thing. A small, wry piece with no melodrama at all, ideal for anyone drawn to the French New Wave and talky character cinema. Stream The Bakery Girl of Monceau online on iFILM.
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