Eric rohmer william johnson essay

In 1963 Les Films du Losange produced the New Wave omnibus film Six in Paris, of which Rohmer's short "Place de l'Etoile" was the centerpiece. After being driven out of his editor position at Cahiers, Rohmer began making short documentaries for French television.

The second Moral Tale was Suzanne's Career (1963). This 60-minute film portrays a young student who is rejected by one woman and begins a romantic relationship with a second. The first and second Moral Tales were never theatrically released and Rohmer was disappointed by their poor technical quality.

Hitchcock helped establish the auteur theory as a critical method and contributed to the reevaluation of the American cinema that was central to that method. By 1963 Rohmer was becoming more at odds with some of the more radical left-wing critics at Cahiers du Cinéma.

Rohmer cited the works of Blaise Pascal, Jean de La Bruyère, François de La Rochefoucauld and Stendhal as inspirations for the series. He clarified, "a moraliste is someone who is interested in the description of what goes on inside man. He’s concerned with states of mind and feelings."