Vu sur OK, revu sur ARTE.
A political tale by Rohmer. As low stake as the intrigue appears to be, the film exploits it efficiently to carefully observe politics division, geographical/territory management issues among other ones in the landscape of political decisions, along the role chance usually plays (in such matters as well as in all of his films).
Bonus: a few real-life interviews of locals.
Wonderfully served by the performances of Pascal Greggory (Pauline à la plage), Luchini (La Discrète) and, as surprising as it may sound, Arielle Dombasle (also featured in Pauline). The two men sound as if they were born to play Rohmer's dialogues and the director exploits the blond's pre-existing character very well, cancelling her acting mediocrity.
The rural environment is, as expected, well filmed.
Score: 7/10
Enjoyment: 4/5
An excellent lesson intelligently delivered through a practical situation, where you will never feel stuck in a lecture.
Another one of those supposedly "minor" Rohmer. (Funny enough when you think that a recurrent argument against him is that he never treated anything else than personal relationships.)