Claire's Knee

1970 1h 45m FR

👍

7.3

SOLID

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 304🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes★7.5IMDB · 12,786

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On the eve of his wedding, on holiday on the Lake Annecy shore, career diplomat Jérôme visits an old acquaintance, perhaps a former girlfriend. Through her, he meets an intense teenager, Laura, and then lusts after her sister, Claire. Whilst Laura attempts to flirt with him, Jérôme's fantasy becomes focused on wanting to caress Claire's knee.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Jean-Claude Brialy
Jérôme
Aurora Cornu
Aurora, the novelist
Béatrice Romand
Laura
Laurence de Monaghan
Claire
Michèle Montel
Madame Walter
Gérard Falconetti
Gilles
Fabrice Luchini
Vincent
Sandra Franchina

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Éric Rohmer
Writers: Éric Rohmer
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

CRAFT

Did you know

Part of the "Six Moral Tales" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Éric Rohmer, shot by Néstor Almendros. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Cécile Decugis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Jean-Claude Brialy and Aurora Cornu and Béatrice Romand carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0065772 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Éric Rohmer directs. Néstor Almendros behind the camera. Cécile Decugis cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

156 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "Six Moral Tales" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Éric Rohmer, shot by Néstor Almendros. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Cécile Decugis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jean-Claude Brialy and Aurora Cornu and Béatrice Romand carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0065772 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 20 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Néstor Almendros
Editing: Cécile Decugis
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
IMDB: Claire's Knee (1970)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 12,786 votes
MPAA: GP
US box office: $44,390

Awards

6 wins & 4 nominations

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film
National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Louis Delluc Prize

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Six Moral Tales

Six brief affairs of the mind, from one of cinema's great moral philosophers, Éric Rohmer spent the 1960s and early '70s turning his ideas about cinema into film with this septet of stories about temptation and self-deception. Each installment follows a man already committed to one woman who finds himself drawn to another, only to talk himself back to the first — Rohmer's interest lying less in what his characters do than in the elaborate reasoning they use for justification. Shot with an understated, naturalistic eye and narrated in a wry first-person, the films move from the two black-and-white shorts that open the series to the lush, seasonal features that follow, cementing Rohmer as one of the New Wave's most distinct and influential voices.

Also by

Éric Rohmer

Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-04-15
★ 9/10
This reminded me of one of those instances in my life when even though I was in a monogamous relationship, that being human, I looked at another woman and wanted to be unfaithful. Though this isn't my favourite of Rohmer's works from an outstanding part of his career (that would have to be 'My Night at Maud's'), this would have to be right up there, and is recommended to anyone who appreciates excellence in foreign cinema, particularly from masters of the French New Wave. As well, that famous moment of the older man looking up the ladder and seeing the beautiful young woman's bare knee and feeling that longing has to be THE finest depiction of that feeling in all of movies. Glorious, heartfelt, extremely intrinsically rewarding work.

Production companies