Just as American cinema is associated with heroics, patriotism and good vs evil, French cinema conjures up a collective perception of romantic entanglements, dinner table philosophising and complicated family relationships. In essence, the epic and the intimate. Much of this perception of Gallic cinema is down to Eric Rohmer and his 50 years spent creating intelligent, perceptive examinations of tangled emotions, foibles and human frailty. Rohmer's films are like lessons in life -- a character faces a moral or emotional struggle, reacts and then tries to make sense of their resulting actions. As a writer and film critic turned director, his films are like literary works; light on action, heavy on dialogue and the interior thoughts of the characters, and formally grouped in chapter-like series. Contes moraux (Six Moral Tales) in the '60s included Claire's Knee and the Oscar nominated My Night At Maud's; Comedies et proverbs (Comedies and Proverbs) in the '80s brought Pauline At The Beach and Golden Lion winner The Green Ray, and Contes des Quatres Saisons (Tales of the Four Seasons) was his final series in the '90s. After his death this January, the Cine Lumiere and the Barbican are each holding mini-retrospectives covering different periods of Rohmer's work.

NB: Cine lumiere's restropsective runs till 20/05 and the Barbican's retrospective runs till 29/05.