Happily married Frederic conducts a secret relationship with Chloe which is not an affair. By and by Chloe says she desires a child fathered by Frederic; nothing more. But this is a lie, for Chloe also admits she is in love with Frederic. Will Frederic be seduced?

Behold Love in the Afternoon (1972) by Eric Rohmer. Quiet and smart, it stars the husband and wife team of Bernard (Frederic) and Francoise Verley (Frederic’s wife) as well as Zouzou as Chloe. All three actors are credible, the women unconventionally attractive. There is nothing wrong with the buttocks they expose.

Rohmer knew how to write moral tales, no doubt about it: Love in the Afternoon is part of his Six Moral Tales series. It is both subtle and easy to understand. And successfully directed.

(In French with English subtitles)