My variation of Élisabeth was written by a antheral called Gilbert Cordier and published by Gallimard successful 1946. The caller didn’t spell acold and yet disappeared from circulation. Sixty years aboriginal Gallimard reissued it nether the altered rubric of La maison d’Élisabeth. Now, astir eighty years aft its archetypal work successful France, it has been translated into English by Aaron Kerner for McNally Editions nether its archetypal rubric of Élisabeth.
Its author, however, was ne'er Gilbert Cordier. Cordier ne'er existed. Cordier is the pen sanction for Éric Rohmer (1920-2010), the celebrated French movie manager who gave america My Night astatine Maud’s, Claire’s Knee, The Green Ray, A Summer’s Tale, Pauline astatine the Beach, A Good Marriage, Chloé successful the Afternoon, and truthful galore different classics of the Nouvelle Vague. Indeed, Éric Rohmer, erstwhile the exertion of the Cahiers du cinéma and often eclipsed by notable directors specified arsenic François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Louis Malle, and Jacques Rivette, is present possibly the astir disposable of them all, and his films are regularly shown, sometimes independently, sometimes successful assorted compilations with different Éric Rohmer films. Many, but not each of his films, are grouped: Six Moral Tales, Comedies and Proverbs, and Tales of the Four Seasons. He wrote each of them.
What is astonishing is that Éric Rohmer was ne'er his existent name. The sometimes-scrupulous Wikipedia is incapable to find whether his existent sanction is Jean-Marie Maurice Schérer oregon Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, the surname successful either lawsuit derived astir most apt from the German Schärer or Scherrer, meaning a shearer of cloth oregon sheep. His pseudonym turns retired to beryllium the operation of 2 names: the actor-director Erich von Stroheim, of Grand Illusion and Sunset Boulevard fame, and the writer Sax Rohmer, who created Dr. Fu Manchu.
Ironically, Stroheim was calved Erich Oswald Stroheim (the “von,” an aristocratic designation, was wholly fictitious); and arsenic for Sax Rohmer, his existent sanction was Arthur Ward. Éric Rohmer’s sanction is truthful nary different than a pseudonym forged connected 2 pseudonyms. If that were not enough, Rohmer sometimes gave antithetic dates for his birth, and it is inactive unclear whether helium was calved successful Tulle oregon successful Nancy. Thus, we don’t cognize his birthplace, his day of birth, oregon his afloat existent name. What we bash cognize is that helium was a precise observant Catholic.
That the Second World War is simply a period distant is the furthest happening from their thoughts. This is their summertime idyll; they’re connected clip disconnected and they mean to bask it.
Full disclosure, Rohmer’s daughter-in-law is my 2nd cousin. Éric Rohmer ever kept to himself and was truthful thoroughly backstage that adjacent his parents ne'er knew helium was a famed filmmaker. He besides made a constituent of distancing himself from the beingness instantly surrounding him. As helium writes successful his staged interrogation to Élisabeth published successful this volume, “while the bullets were inactive flying…right past my window” successful 1944 Paris and arsenic skirmishes raged passim the city, young Rohmer was busily penning his caller Élisabeth. As helium goes connected to inquire a fewer words later, “’Is it adjacent imaginable to constitute astir what’s unfolding astatine present?’ My reply was: ‘No, it’s not—you request to instrumentality a measurement back.’ And connected that point, my opinions haven’t changed astatine all.”
Indeed, his sentiment ne'er wavered. If 1 tin isolate a diagnostic of Élisabeth later inscribed successful truthful galore of Rohmer’s films, it is that everyone has been enactment connected time-out. Unlike children who’ve misbehaved, his characters person not crossed the line, and whitethorn ne'er bash so, but the tendency to misbehave has crossed their mind, and it sits determination with thing to allay it. We ticker them struggle, not with others, but with themselves. We ticker them travel up with justifications, but we are not taken in, and neither are they. They privation idiosyncratic but it’s ne'er sufficiently wide whether it is their assemblage oregon conscionable their mischievous caput that craves that different person. They don’t know. We don’t know.
Rohmer’s satellite is existent enough, but those helium portrays are ever someway detached and distanced from day-to-day concerns. Most, but not all, bash not person monetary oregon nonrecreational cares. They are well-established and thing that mightiness person troubled them turns retired to beryllium incidental, except, perhaps, for their quixotic drives. We get the wide ambiance of their lives but we ne'er get their lived-in, home lives. The aforesaid holds existent of the towns oregon cities they inhabit. We get the pervasive ambiance of the setting, but the spot itself is seldom much than a backdrop.
In Paris, radical instrumentality trains, tally into each other, locomotion on parks, thrust buses, participate oregon permission buildings, beryllium successful cafés, bargain things, and pb thoroughly uneventful lives, but thing outer impinges connected them. In Élisabeth, radical thrust cars, thrust bicycles, and astir get into collisions oregon bicycle accidents; and due to the fact that of the heat, they whitethorn adjacent illness momentarily. But arsenic successful truthful galore of Rohmer’s films, his characters are young and connected holiday, escaped to bask the formation oregon the countryside. As Huguette, a quality successful the novel, remarks, it’s a satellite wherever “everything conscionable devolves into flirtation.” That the Second World War is simply a period distant is the furthest happening from their thoughts. This is their summertime idyll; they’re connected clip disconnected and they mean to bask it. The closing country of the publication shows america Claire lounging successful her folding seat successful the garden, adjacent to a linden tree, wholly absorbed by the publication she is speechmaking portion trying to debar excessively overmuch sun. World War II ne'er happened, volition ne'er happen, and contempt Rohmer’s claim, bullets won’t ever alert past their window.
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Élisabeth addresses 2 main characters. One is Michel, who is fundamentally debating whether to extremity his narration with the older and widowed Irène. Things are tense and much than erstwhile Irène volition interruption down and cry. She gives Michel permission to bash arsenic helium pleases, and her cognition toward him is 1 of implicit surrender and manumission. She won’t combat him. Meanwhile, helium grows to fishy that helium perfectly hates her. She does not cognize that helium would similar to interruption with her, though her tears suggest that she is plentifulness alert that their narration is astatine a crossroad.
He whitethorn hatred her but helium besides loves her. “I cognize her excessively good to beryllium capable to spot her, I emotion her excessively much…” “Love is simply a wont you stumble into, ne'er thing you choose.” Irène, connected the different hand, “hate[s] him, too, and c[an’t] bring herself to archer him, due to the fact that astatine bottommost she inactive want[s] to emotion him, adjacent if she nary longer truly believe[s] successful it.”
These edgy insights into the contradictory quality of the quality psyche whitethorn dependable a interaction unleavened, if not breezy, but past this is what makes them unmistakably Rohmerian. Rohmer is inactive precise young, to beryllium sure, possibly somewhat callow, but these highly discerning insights into conflicting emotions and quality science volition extremity up appearing successful each of his films.
In different scene, Michel pretends to beryllium his relative Bernard. Indeed, helium says helium is Bernard successful truthful devious and insistent a mode to Jacqueline that it is wide to the scholar that helium cannot beryllium Bernard. Michel is grabbing Jacqueline successful his car but she struggles and succeeds successful freeing herself. Immediately pursuing Bernard’s failed attempt, she tells him that helium mightiness similar an older woman—which reminds america that helium is precise perchance not Bernard, but Michel, inactive wondering whether to extremity his narration with Irène.
This individuality swap betwixt the 2 men, who are cousins, is not wholly clear; indeed, it is mentioned truthful tacitly that 1 should beryllium reminded that Rohmer was penning his caller astatine a clip erstwhile the famed nouveau roman was already being calved successful the hands of writers similar Nathalie Sarraute and Alain Robbe-Grillet. Rohmer’s caller is often elliptical and enigmatic, particularly erstwhile helium is reluctant to archer america who immoderate of the characters are with respect to the others. As a result, galore readers whitethorn beryllium confused. But who is not confused by the precise past country of My Night astatine Maud’s, erstwhile Jean-Louis Trintignant yet intuits—and helium simply intuits with nary impervious to the contrary—that the pistillate helium joined was the 1 who caused Maud’s separation from her husband?
Despite their embarrassment, they clasp a interaction of eloquence successful their speech….In that sense, formality does not vitiate desire; it forces it to spell itself out.
Then comes different character, Bernard, besides young and who, portion bathing 1 day, swims into a miss called Huguette. He mightiness inactive person a lukewarm spot for Claire, his cousin, but Huguette knows precisely what helium is aft and gets retired of his car successful time, though, dissimilar Michel, Bernard is not astir to misbehave with her. When it starts to rain, a speech starts arsenic some Bernard and Huguette instrumentality structure nether trees. The country is lone excessively reminiscent of Rohmer’s 1970 movie Claire’s Knee, erstwhile some Claire and Jérôme are compelled to find a structure from a abrupt downpour. In the closeness of the moment, their seeming relationship allows Jérôme to archer Claire that her fellow mightiness beryllium cheating connected her. On proceeding the news, Claire starts sobbing and, to soothe her, Jérôme rubs her knee, once, twice, which, successful his ain words, is each helium ever wanted from her: her knee. The knee, of course, is simply a metaphor for sex. She whitethorn cognize what helium is doing arsenic helium rubs her genu oregon she is wholly unaware of it. The country is simply a interaction theatrical, astir farcical, but it is not without suspense. Jérôme whitethorn talk astir his increasing tendency for her, oregon helium whitethorn fto soundlessness bash the talking for him. For Rohmer, sleeping unneurotic is ever a acold simpler maneuver than confiding one’s desires verbally. Which is wherefore the transportation of a frank but highly articulate code astir desire, particularly to the precise idiosyncratic 1 desires, proves unbearably intense. Nothing successful Rohmer is much telling than those moments erstwhile 2 individuals look astatine each other.
They know, oregon deliberation they know, what the different thinks, and the grin that unavoidably flits done their features reminds us—reader and spectator alike—that soundlessness is seldom ever a dumb infinitesimal betwixt 2 individuals.
Rohmer’s dialogues are ne'er short, they are often literate and highly seasoned, and yet they let his characters to retired themselves to the precise idiosyncratic they person each crushed to beryllium cagey with. It is their candor that disarms, conscionable arsenic it is their candor that keeps drafting america to Rohmer. His characters are ever x-raying themselves, and they bash truthful with 1 different truthful precise artfully that galore person qualified Rohmer’s films arsenic overanalytical, unrealistic, oregon excessively slow. But is realism and down-to-earth code immoderate much realistic? I don’t deliberation so. And I’m not alone.
Rohmer’s radical tin beryllium embarrassingly intimate. Yet, contempt their embarrassment, they clasp a interaction of eloquence successful their code that leaves them highly ceremonial and astatine the aforesaid clip highly vulnerable. In that sense, formality does not vitiate desire; it forces it to spell itself out. It’s besides however intimacy turns into art.
Rohmer’s characters whitethorn beryllium connected vacation, and they whitethorn talk successful bookish terms, and their values whitethorn beryllium the farthest from our ain and look wholly artificial; they could each beryllium connected time-out and beryllium connected an wholly antithetic satellite wherever determination are nary satellite wars and wherever nary bullets ever alert past windows. But beryllium nether nary illusion; it is inactive our world, conscionable a interaction oblique and much opaque.
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From Élisabeth by Eric Rohmer, translated from the French by Aaron Kerner. Introduction copyright © 2026 by André Aciman. Available from McNally Editions.
English (US) ·