Le Signe du lion (1962)

Eric Rohmer’s debut sees an American in Paris reduced to poverty after prematurely spending his inheritance.

Distantly inspired by Murnau’s The Last Laugh, Rohmer's first completed feature sees a down-at-heel American in Paris reduced to poverty after he prematurely spends an inheritance which fails to materialise. A bracingly believable cautionary tale, shot with a vivid realism sometimes reminiscent of early Cassavetes.