Full Moon in Paris (Les Nuits de la pleine lune)

Written by Michael Clawson

A little bit like a gender-reversed Chloe in the Afternoon, but with ‘80s flavor and far more melancholic. Restless living in the Paris suburbs with her boyfriend Remi, who keeps very different hours, Louise wants an apartment of her own in the city, a pied-à-terre from which she can freely come and go at any hour without bothering Remi, and where she can sleep all day after a long night out dancing and socializing with friends (more of a homebody, Remi doesn’t share Louise’s enthusiasm for partying multiple nights a week). She doesn’t see having a place of her own as something that might endanger her and Remi’s relationship; in her mind, it’s only mature to recognize and accept their different natures, and what’s good for her will be good for them both. Unlike Frederic in Chloe though, who’s welcomed back by his wife in the end after second-guessing his decisions, Louise, in a tragically ironic twist, is met with crushing news when she decides she wants what she had to begin with. Rohmer doesn’t punish Louise for acting on her desire for independence; he simply follows through on one of the sadder possible outcomes.

Full Moon in Paris Trailer

Watch Full Moon in Paris on Kanopy

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