Part two of Eric Rohmer's ongoing series of stories, this one concerns a love triangle of sorts. Bertrand and Guillaume meet Suzanne, a young, plain-looking woman. Bertrand decides not to pursue her, but Guillaume does, and once he's made her his, he pushes her aside. Angered, Suzanne flirts with Bertrand and asks him out in order to make Guillaume jealous. What takes place is a series of events in which both young men take advantage of Suzanne who is somewhat of a mousy character throughout part of Rohmer's plot, but who takes charge in the short movie's later half. SUZANNE'S CAREER also concerns a constant in Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" theme: the man who is attracted to a woman he does not want, and idealizes another woman he does want (or already is engaged/married to). Normally the spurned woman is not to the type of the protagonist's liking, and the one he is in love with, is. Sophie, in this story, represents that ideal for Bertrand even when to the viewer she appears rather dull and Suzanne has shown a greater personality than originally displayed. Not as talky as LE GENOU DE CLAIRE (indeed, no movie can be!) this one has a little more wit to it, even when it's a little flat here and there.

This is the second of the moral tales. Rohmer is a bit of an acquired taste. For me, it's that the characters are often unlikeable or weak. In this one, Suzanne is a young woman, enamored with Gillaume, a self centered bad boy Jerk who uses his friends. She is continually mistreated by this guy, and, of course, goes back to him. Bertrand, the feckless other man, Gillaume's friend, is taken with Suzanne and has a seemingly hopeless, puppy-like relationship with her. She pays when they go out, draining her resources. But she is actually using him. What happens is inconsequential. Rohmer is practicing his craft, developing characters, playing them against each other, and keeping out of it. When people meet, they engage in boring conversations. They are so introspective that we wish something would happen, but nothing really does. Just look at these people and enjoy the mastery of a director who knows how to make them real.

"Suzanne's Career" is the second of Eric Rohmer's "six moral tales". It concerns a young man, Guillaume, whose purpose in life is using women. If they have money he can filch, so much the better. The story is narrated by Bertrand, Guillaume's friend. In the first scene, the couple meet Suzanne, a young student who falls in with them and gets the usual treatment by Guillaume.

Bertrand, like everyone in the story, knows that Guillaume is a thief without redeeming attributes, and so do we, so what is the moral question posed by this film?

I can forgive the voice-overs, as Rohmer is trying to bring us into the internal thought processes of Bertrand. But I found the film to be choppy and amateurish. The biggest question posed by the film is why Bertrand would choose Guillaume as a friend.

Although I have not seen all of Rohmer's moral tales, at least some of the later ones are more polished and have a more interesting point of view.