Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 9, 2024

One of the rather interesting if simultaneously peculiar trivia points about world cinema is how fecund the French movie critic community has been in producing titans of film making. The iconic French publication Cahiers du Cinéma was a virtual hotbed of activity in this regard, and if names like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut may be at the apex of any list culled from those who began as writers for the magazine and who went on to storied careers in film, there are any number of others, including Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, and the man responsible for the six films (some shorts) in this collection, Éric Rohmer. Rohmer's fame may have at least temporarily eclipsed the likes of Godard and Truffaut, for a little while anyway, when the trifecta of My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, and Love in the Afternoon became international sensations as the sixties gave way to the seventies. An obituary for Rohmer in a major newspaper mentioned his "durability" and suggested that even if he didn't have the immediate name recognition of some of his peers, his work had outlasted any flash in the pan sensibility that may have attended releases of films by other former critics. Really fascinatingly in the "trivial pursuit" category is the fact that all six of the "tales" aggregated as exemplars of "morality" by Rohmer are based, at least tangentially, on F.W. Murnau's legendary Sunrise.

For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links:

The Bakery Girl of Monceau Blu-ray review

Suzanne's Career Blu-ray review

My Night at Maud's Blu-ray review

La Collectionneuse Blu-ray review

Claire's Knee Blu-ray review

Love in the Afternoon Blu-ray review

Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Note that Criterion has packaged this release with two films per disc (see screenshots 5 through 7 of this review for what's on each disc), and some of the supplements, while ostensibly "tied" to one film, or at least listed under that film's menu as a supplement, may be more general in nature. Additionally, the DigiPack offers brief synopses of the films, and the slip box contains two really worthwhile volumes in addition to the DigiPack. The first is a larger volume offering the original book form of Six Moral Tales. The second volume is a more traditional "insert booklet" with a number of really interesting essays on the films (including some by such noted writers as Molly Haskell), along with cast and crew information and technical specs.

Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The "classics" in this set will obviously be its calling card, but all six of these "tales" offer unique environments and some fascinating characters. While there are understandably some ebbs and flows, generally speaking technical merits are excellent and both the on disc supplements and non disc swag are hugely appealing. Highly recommended.