Sign of the Lion

Le Signe du Lion (Sign of the Lion), Éric Rohmer's black-and-white debut feature, shot on location in Paris in the summer of 1959 but only released in 1962, is counted among the earliest works of the French New Wave. It follows Pierre Wesserlin, an American musician living a carefree bohemian life in Paris, spending freely while awaiting a large inheritance. When he learns that the fortune has gone to a cousin instead, his creditors cut him off and his supposed friends abandon him. Alone and penniless through a scorching August in the deserted capital, he refuses to work and slides into homelessness, surviving on the streets until he hits rock bottom. Yet he clings to the belief that his zodiac sign, Leo, will protect him. In the end a friend finds him with news that the cousin has died and the inheritance is truly his. The film found little commercial success, and Rohmer spent the following years making short films and writing for Cahiers du cinéma before returning to features.