"Conte d'été (A Summer's Tale)"

by David Sterritt

I went to the new installment in Eric Rohmer's current series, "Tales of the Four Seasons," with high hopes, since "A Winter's Tale" stands with the best pictures of his illustrious career. "A Summer's Tale" is nowhere near that league, but I found it charming and diverting. True, not much happens as the young protagonist juggles relationships with three new girlfriends during a sojourn on the seashore. The typically Rohmeresque talk, talk, talk is fetchingly photographed, though, and acted with unassuming charm by a fresh young cast. It's minor fun.