The first of "The Six Moral Tales" is taut and somewhat uneventful. Man is a selfish cad. Man falls in love from a distance but loses track of the young woman. His encounters with the bakery girl in question move toward an acknowledgment that second best is better than nothing. Hearts are broken and feelings hurt. The strength of the film is not in any recognizable plot but in the camera work of the alleyways of the setting. Everything is set in a kind of microcosm where all the principles are pushed together. It's almost as if there are no other streets in the city. The young man is so unlikeable and yet so driven as to continue to go to the little bakery and buy the same thing day after day, hoping to gain sight of his missing target. I agree with previous reviewers that this was probably practice for the great director. A little, inconsequential foray into serious filmmaking.
Review of The Bakery Girl of Monceau
