One of the most talked about movies of its decade, My Night at Maud’s propelled Rohmer’s popularity far beyond France: it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and an Oscar (for Best Foreign Language Film).
This film explores the themes of moral choice, chance and risk, and is based around the famous Pascal’s Wager—a famous argument made by the French philosopher Blaise Pascal and stating that belief in God would bring the believer infinite gains, if God does exist, whereas if he doesn’t, the losses would be moderate. Rohmer stages a similar situation of a moral dilemma on the example of a man’s choice between two women: one, a blond catholic stranger, seems a perfect wife for the main character (Jean-Louis Trintignant), while the other, an emancipated brunette, is seducing him to give in to temptation and forget about his principles in favor of passion.
The screening will be introduced by a lecture delivered by philosopher and film critic, Oleg Goryainov “Éric Rohmer, A Christian Philosopher”, devoted to the Christian, and catholic in particular, motifs in the director’s practice, and Rohmer’s references to Blaise Pascal and Søren Kierkegaard.
My Night at Maud’s
Director Éric Rohmer. France, 1969. 105 minutes.
16+