Steineded
How sad is this?
CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Kimball
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
atlasmb
"Suzanne's Career" is the second of Eric Rohmer's "six moral tales". It concerns a young man, Guillaume, whose purpose in life is using women. If they have money he can filch, so much the better. The story is narrated by Bertrand, Guillaume's friend. In the first scene, the couple meet Suzanne, a young student who falls in with them and gets the usual treatment by Guillaume.Bertrand, like everyone in the story, knows that Guillaume is a thief without redeeming attributes, and so do we, so what is the moral question posed by this film?I can forgive the voice-overs, as Rohmer is trying to bring us into the internal thought processes of Bertrand. But I found the film to be choppy and amateurish. The biggest question posed by the film is why Bertrand would choose Guillaume as a friend.Although I have not seen all of Rohmer's moral tales, at least some of the later ones are more polished and have a more interesting point of view.
ruthierocks
Suzanne's Career, the second of Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales," is an intriguing little drama encircling the lives of three students: Bertrand, our slightly naïve narrator, Guillaume, a chauvinistic leech, and Suzanne, an easily manipulated, clingy girl whom they take advantage of. In comparison to The Girl at the Monceau Bakery (the first moral tale), Suzanne's Career is significantly darker, better acted, but somehow less effective. There's more meat here, but something gets lost in translation. It is still a good film, but it drags in places and sometimes becomes a little monotonous. If a viewer can get past that, though, the last fifteen minutes of the film is easily the best part of the entire movie.At the beginning, we see Bertrand and Guillaume, two young college boys, having a conversation with Suzanne, a girl whom they've just met. Guillaume decides early on to use the girl, manipulate her emotions, exploit her in any way he can. And he does so effectively, for awhile. Guillaume flirts with other girls in Suzanne's presence, talks down to her, lives off of her money completely regretless. Throughout the whole thing, Bertrand stands by. He is torn between whether or not to go against his friend, who he looks up to, or to join him and manipulate the girl in order to benefit himself.This is a fairly good film. It is longer than the first moral tale, but not quite feature length. The moral dilemma here, concerning fair and right treatment of women, is very interesting to watch unfold. It takes a little too long to get to where it's going, though. The middle drags on for longer than it needed to. There is no question that the two male characters are absolute pigs, but watching them act on their chauvinism gets a little old after awhile. However, good narration, an excellent plot, and a good statement about how people should be treated salvage this moral tale. Suzanne's Career is definitely worth the hour.7/10
nycritic
Part two of Eric Rohmer's ongoing series of stories, this one concerns a love triangle of sorts. Bertrand and Guillaume meet Suzanne, a young, plain-looking woman. Bertrand decides not to pursue her, but Guillaume does, and once he's made her his, he pushes her aside. Angered, Suzanne flirts with Bertrand and asks him out in order to make Guillaume jealous. What takes place is a series of events in which both young men take advantage of Suzanne who is somewhat of a mousy character throughout part of Rohmer's plot, but who takes charge in the short movie's later half. SUZANNE'S CAREER also concerns a constant in Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" theme: the man who is attracted to a woman he does not want, and idealizes another woman he does want (or already is engaged/married to). Normally the spurned woman is not to the type of the protagonist's liking, and the one he is in love with, is. Sophie, in this story, represents that ideal for Bertrand even when to the viewer she appears rather dull and Suzanne has shown a greater personality than originally displayed. Not as talky as LE GENOU DE CLAIRE (indeed, no movie can be!) this one has a little more wit to it, even when it's a little flat here and there.
Howard Schumann
In Suzanne's Career, the 54-minute second film of Rohmer's group of Six Moral Tales, two friends, both students at a local university, vie for the affections of Suzanne (Catherine See). Guillame (Christian Charriere) is the more aggressive and the most manipulative but Bertrand (Phillipe Beuzen) goes along with his schemes and his character is not beyond blemish. Both scheme to have Suzanne pay for their good times and ignore her at parties to make her jealous while telling each other how they detest her.There is a great deal of narration in the film and we are privy to Bertrand's thoughts and feelings as he sorts out for himself what is right and what is wrong. Suzanne is sweet but seemingly rather passive and easily exploited and we root for her to assert herself, and in typical Rohmer style we don't have to wait very long. This is a lovely film and, though it goes on a bit too long in pursuing its resolution, the ending is deliciously satisfying.