The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, January 11-18
Directed by Éric Rohmer
“Adventures” may be a bit of a misnomer here; in Rohmer’s four-part film, teenage girls Reinette and Mirabelle embark on the kinds of “adventures” that are more about navigating life’s mundane situations, from rude waiters to loud trucks disrupting rural idyll. It’s Rohmer’s peppering of subtle humor and his careful study of character—focusing his lens on two girls from different backgrounds (Reinette from the countryside and Mirabelle from the city) learning to live with each other as flatmates in Paris—that make this overlooked film from the celebrated French filmmaker such a delight to watch. The male love interests in Rohmer’s better-known works are often the most frustrating parts, but here, in his Frances Ha prototype, he portrays a realistic female friendship that endearingly swings from quiet confrontations to comedic sketches. And if you find Rohmer too talky, just you wait until the final adventure. Kristen Yoonsoo Kim (January 11, 2pm, 7:30pm; January 17, 6:30pm, 8:30pm at the Metrograph’s Rohmer series)