Subterfuge

subterfuge







Y

藉口;託辭



D



–noun 

an artifice or expedient (權宜之計) used 

to 

evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc. 



—Synonyms 

deception, scheme, trick, dodge, ruse.





　

For a long time, Isabelle's ruse is like a private joke she uses to titillate herself. 



Her first respondent, Gerald, a divorced salesman and the son of a vintner (well played by Alain Libolt), falls for her on their first encounter. Isabelle makes jokes at her own expense -- she puts herself down for being too tall -- 



vintner 

a person who makes wine or sells wines.





but she's also preening before a man she knows she'll never have. 



She regards her subterfuge 

as 

"a game that amuses me, even though it's dangerous," 





and that sums up the movie's effect on us as well. It's always on the verge of breaking into something unruly and troubling, but Rohmer keeps things tidy. Isabelle is not tempted by Gerald; her friendship with Magali is never seriously strained, even when the jig is up. 



There's an element of cruelty in what Isabelle perpetrates with Gerald, but it's treated as a confectionary whim. "I want all men to love me," she tells him with a smile. "Especially the ones I don't love."



jig

吉格舞 (通常為三拍子的快步舞)





cavil (unnecessarily) 

carp

quibble 

prevaricate (mislead)

equivocate (ambiguous to mislead) cf. weasel fudge nudge 

Castigate