(2008; Les amours d'Astrée at de Céladon, French) A morality tale and the last film by the late director/writer Eric Rohmer, adapted from Honoré d'Urfé's 1610 novel, L'Astrée, takes place in 5th-century Gaul on the bucolic Forez plain; the scenes are painterly and the acting naturalistic with a narrator's occasional intrusion and the sounds of nature in the background.

Coming for Astrea (Stéphanie Crayencour), who's been sitting away off from the feasting and dancing of the shepherds and shepherdesses, Semyre brings her into the festivities where she sees Celadon (Andy Gillet) dancing with Amynthe as she had instructed him to put on a pretense of affection before their parents. Following the couple into the woods, Astrea witnesses Amynthe kissing her beloved on the mouth.

The next day Astrea, jealously ignoring Celadon's entreaties and reminder that she'd suggested he put on a sham of attentions toward Amynthe, reproves him: "Go cheat some other girl!" - commanding him to be gone from her forever. He threatens to drown himself.

Below the gorge three nymphs, seeking "a priceless object" from directions provided by the druids, discover Celadon unconscious beside the river. Removing him to the castle, Milady Galathea (Véronique Reymond) falls in love with him, though Leonide (Cécile Cassel) reminds her that though Celadon is high-born he's nevertheless just a common shepherd.

Celadon wakes, at first believing he's in heaven with the gods; Galathea informs him of her intention to nurse him back to health, after which, she says, "Look to me for the future." Following Celadon's pleading with her to intercede on his behalf with Galathea to release him, otherwise he vows to die, Leonide fails to move Galathea from her resolution to have the shepherd for herself.

Unable to locate Celadon's body after a search of the riverbanks, Lycidas (Jocelyn Quivrin), Celadon's brother, with his wife Phyllis (Mathilde Mosnier) sadly reports the conclusion that Celadon must have drowned: "You doubted his word, so he killed himself." Lycidas, vowing to abhor her, directs Astrea to a tree where Celadon had carved a poem for her.

Upon reading her lover's words, Astrea realizes her fatal error - "Forgive me for doubting you!" - and weeps her deepest regrets, swearing to carry his memory with her to the grave; her genuine grief softens Lycidas's animosity toward her.

Following their song singing, Hylas (Rodolphe Pauly) and his minstrels make light of love, sparking a debate with Lycidas, who holds that pure love merges two souls into one; Hylas mirthfully contends that the source of love is merely a desire for what one has not, especially the physical pleasures of women.

Under a bower in the castle, Galathea accuses Celadon of the worst of sins, ingratitude for her affection; he replies that he must remain loyal to Astrea, for what value has affection without loyalty. With Leonide's assistance, Celadon escapes from the castle, disguised as a maid; for her help he promises her "brotherly friendship."

To Leonide's exhortation, "Go to her," Celadon says he cannot since she forbade him to ever again see her: "I'll wait." Certain that Astrea will take him back, Leonide suggests that he at least reside inside a hut; she then goes to her uncle Adamas (Serge Renko), chief of the druids, for advice.

"How can I not obey her?" asks Celadon of Adamas, since a faithful lover must take a beloved at her word, especially after he'd previously doubted her. In a discussion of religion, Adamas explains to Celadon (while admitting these are unfathomable mysteries) that Tentates is the one god almighty with several virtues (not as the Romans have usurped their deities, replacing them with their own lesser pantheon): being Father, Son, and Love; he recommends to Celadon that he employ both courage and love to construct of tree branches a shrine to the goddess of virtue and justice, Astrea.

In the spring for the Mistletoe Feast, Lycidas leads a group to Adamas's castle for the celebration where Celadon, with the druid's cunning and careful concealment of clothing, becomes Adamas's daughter Alexia, allowing him to openly consort with the company, including Astrea.

Before their arrival the pilgrims stop at the new shrine, observing plaques displaying the rules of love (though Hylas mockingly reinterprets their meaning) and remarking on the resemblance of the goddess's portrait to the mortal Astrea herself; Astrea recognizes a line from Celadon's own poetry - "Bereft of my true good, this false good comforts me" - raising her hopes that he may yet be alive. While speaking intimately with Alexia, Astrea in promising her friendship to the maiden nymph, assures her, "I never go back on my decisions," once again defeating the flame in Celadon's heart.

A very pretty picture but the story's rather silly.

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