Love in the Afternoon

Love in the Afternoon (; released in North America as Chloe in the Afternoon) is a 1972 French romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Éric Rohmer. It is the sixth and final installment in Rohmer's Six Moral Tales series. An English-language remake starring Chris Rock, titled I Think I Love My Wife, was released in 2007. Singer-songwriter St. Vincent named the opening song of her 2011 album, Strange Mercy, after the film. Plot Frédéric, the young and successful partner in a Paris business firm, is happily married to Hélène, an English teacher, and father to one child with another on the way. Still, something eats away at him. While going through his day, Frédéric begins to ponder the times before he was married, when he was free to be with any woman he wanted and could feel the deep satisfaction of anticipation while he chased them. At one point, he has an elaborate fantasy where he possesses a magical amulet that causes all women to bow to his will (the sequence features actresses from previous "Six Moral Tales" instalments). These thoughts do not distress Frédéric, though, as he sees these ideas as a reflection of how true his love to his wife is. One day, Chloé, a woman from Frédéric's past, stops by his office, hungry and homeless. Chloé had once been the girlfriend of an old friend of Frédéric's, and had caused this friend a great deal of grief. At first Frédéric believes Chloé only wants cash and company, but over time, as she tries a series of jobs to attempt some type of solidity in her life, to the increasing amusement of the secretaries in Frédéric's office, the two begin spending afternoons together, talking of many things Frédéric finds himself unable to talk to his wife about. He enjoys the pleasures of an attractive mistress without the guilt of adultery, while she has a man who will do whatever she wants without needing sex.