Movie Review by Alice Castle
Starring: Katerina Didaskalu, Serge Renko, Cyrielle Clair, Grigori Manukov, Dimitri Rafalsky
Director: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer’s latest film tells the story of a white Russian officer (Serge Renko) exiled after the Revolution to Paris with his Greek refugee wife Arsinoe (Katerina Didaskalou) before and during the Second World War. These were the days when dutiful wives warmed their husbands’ slippers, organised cocktail parties and never asked their spouses about what was going on in the office.
Seen mainly through Arsinoe’s eyes her daily life consists of painting and choosing where to live while her husband organises political meetings away from home. Based on a true story, which was never truly resolved, it emerges that Arsinoe’s husband is not only fraternising with his white Russian comrades but looking elsewhere for new allegiances.
As war comes closer to Paris, a white Russian officer might need to start making ‘arrangements’ with other political groups to secure his survival. Slowly told, in Rohmer’s slightly plodding style, the film is a sort of behind the scenes spy story.
