Autumn Tale
Autumn Tale
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Autumn Tale

Autumn Tale (French: Conte d'automne) is a 1998 French romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Éric Rohmer, starring Béatrice Romand, Marie Rivière, Didier Sandre, Alain Libolt, Alexia Portal, Stéphane Darmon and Aurélia Alcaïs. It is the fourth and final instalment in Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons series, which also includes A Tale of Springtime (1990), A Tale of Winter (1992) and A Summer's Tale (1996).

Winemaker and widow, Magali (Béatrice Romand) is 45 years old and absorbs herself in her vineyards to distract herself from her loneliness. Her good friends Rosine (Alexia Portal) and Isabelle (Marie Rivière), individually concoct plans to get her dating again, but using their own social abilities to lure the men into their plans. Isabelle finds an appropriate middle-aged man named Gerald (a widower himself) on a dating service and makes first contact. Magali refuses to use personal ads to meet men, and her work has prevented her from having any personal life, so Isabelle has to continuously go out on dates with Gerald to warm him up.

Rosine uses her youth and sexuality as a lure with her older university professor, Etienne, who is hoping to have a relationship with the younger student. As both couples' relationships advance, both women reveal that the plan all along was to have them date Magali-presenting a picture of her. Both men are taken aback at the deception, but find themselves curious enough to meet her.

Both independent plans come to their conclusion at the wedding of Isabelle's daughter, when Rosine's professor shows more interest in another youthful woman from the school. Magali meets Gerald at the wine table and they instantly create a bond discussing their Northern African experiences and lives in the winery business. Milling around the wedding, Gerald runs into Isabelle and they move to a quieter location to discuss how the first meeting unfolded. When Isabelle hugs Gerald, Magali opens the door on the couple by accident and sees the embrace. Despondent, Magali reverts into her anti-social behavior, disappointed that her friend is having an affair with a man she was connecting with.

Magali wants to leave the wedding, but her son takes the car, so she is dependent on getting a ride home. Isabelle and Gerald, not knowing that Magali had seen them hugging, offer a ride to her. On the ride home, Magali gets into an argument with the confused Gerald, who is forced to drop her off at a remote train station near Orange.

After waiting for hours, Magali gives up on the train and takes a taxi back to the wedding-hoping her son has returned the car.

Gerald also has returned to the wedding, which is near ending, to complain and tell Isabelle about the incident with Magali.

As the two converge on Isabelle, the plot is revealed and Isabelle says that the presumption of the affair with Gerald was impossible as she loves her husband. Magali and Gerald begin to laugh and decide to make another try, without all the confusing deception, at her Fall harvest party later in the month.

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