Movie Recommendation: The Pilot's Wife (La Femme de L'aviateur)

The character that gives the film its name (The Pilot's Wife) appears only briefly in a photograph in Anne's house. This situation, which can be called a Rohmerian joke, is an original detail that we have not seen before in another director's film. Because usually the person who gives the movie its name has a very active role in the movie. In this movie, although he is indirectly a very effective character, his screen time is as short as 5-6 seconds and that is from a photograph.

Rohmer, who loves the first-person narrative in his films, chose the third-person narrative this time. Again, there is a dialogue-based narrative. Anne's character curve has been drawn very successfully and she is the character that we see the change from beginning to end. The movie is closer to real life than a fictional work. As in life, we cannot predict exactly how the characters will end up in the movie. We come across a very realistic language not only in the context of the story but also in the context of the film language. With the use of light and color, the art direction reflects the colors and fashion of the period when the film was shot. Again, Rohmer's favorite earth tones and pale colors are dominant.

The camerawork of one scene in the film is particularly interesting. In the scene where Lucie and François are sitting in the cafe waiting for Christian and the woman next to him to leave the office, the camera usually points to Lucie. It is clear that the director chose this choice so that we can observe the characters as they do. It does not show us Lucie from François' point of view. While they are watching the man and woman, we are also watching them. In this scene, which also includes Sherlock Holmes references, Rohmer invites us to the characters' detective game. Since we don't know Lucie at all, while we produce alternative stories about that man and woman, we involuntarily try to gather clues about her character as we get clues about her life.