Synopsis

In the vineyards of southern France, lonely widow and wine grower Magali becomes the focus of two matchmaking schemes. Her friend Isabelle secretly answers a personal ad on her behalf, while Rosine tries to introduce her to an older professor. As romantic plans become tangled in deception and misunderstanding, Magali must navigate friendship, loneliness, and the possibility of beginning again.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Autumn Tale" is the fourth and final installment of the "Tales of the Four Seasons" cycle, following "A Tale of Springtime," "A Tale of Winter," and "A Summer's Tale."

• The original French title is "Conte d'automne."

• The film was shot in and around the vineyards of the Rhone Valley, giving its wine-growing setting an important role in the atmosphere and themes.

• Autumn functions as more than a seasonal backdrop. The grape harvest reflects maturity, while the characters are also confronting middle age, loneliness, and the prospect of a new phase in life.

• The story's comedy comes largely from competing matchmaking plots and the characters' incomplete understanding of one another, creating the structure of both a romantic farce and a social comedy.

• The film won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay at the 1998 Venice International Film Festival.

• The National Society of Film Critics selected it as its 1999 Best Foreign Language Film.

• With a running time of approximately 112 minutes, the French-language film was released in 1998.