A Day in the Country

Director: Jean Renoir
Year Released: 1936
Rating: 3.0

Renoir's terse but charming adaptation of a Guy de Maupassant short does a commendable job of depicting summertime love, as two friends take out a mother and daughter (Sylvie Bataille, an intellectual's dream) for a boat ride. It's like a small plate of something warm and delicious you get as a single course at a fancy restaurant (with tiny plates and outlandish price tags): you only get a taste, and you want more, but that's all there is. Savor the morsel.