Pauline à la plage
Encyclopedia
Pauline at the Beach is a 1983 French film
directed by Éric Rohmer
. The film stars Amanda Langlet
, Arielle Dombasle
, Pascal Greggory
and Féodor Atkine
.
) gets out of the car to open the gate, as her older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle
) drives inside their family's vacation home on the north-western coast of France. As the girls settle in to their trip, Marion quizzes Pauline on her love life, and Pauline confesses that she has not had any serious affairs of the heart.
On the beach, Marion spies her ex-lover Pierre (Pascal Greggory
). As they are getting reacquainted, a middle-aged man named Henri (Féodor Atkine
) approaches and scolds Pierre for abandoning their windsurfing lessons. The quartet agree to have dinner together. Afterwards, they each talk briefly about their ideas of love in Henri's living room. Henri is happy to be free from any serious commitments, as he travels the world as an ethnographer. Marion wants to fall passionately in love at first sight, and she regrets her failed marriage to a man that she did not really love. Pierre is more cautious, and feels that love cannot form in an instant. Pauline listens quietly throughout and confesses that she agrees most of all with Pierre's idea of love, but that she has learned a lot from listening to all of them.
Henri suggests that they all go dancing at a nearby casino. At the casino, Pierre confesses that his love for Marion has been reignited by seeing her again. But she does not want any part in a relationship with him, due to his jealous nature. Instead, she chooses to sleep with Henri.
Back at the beach, Pierre tries to teach Marion and Pauline how to windsurf and some local boys approach. Sylvain (Simon de la Brosse) takes a liking to Pauline. Marion steals away to visit Henri. Before they make love again, she prods him about the nature of his feelings, worried that she is just a meaningless conquest to him. Meanwhile, Sylvain and Pauline begin an affair of their own.
In short order, Henri does in fact sleep with someone else, seducing a local candy vendor while Marion and Pauline are visiting Mont Saint-Michel
. Sylvain is watching TV downstairs at Henri's house, while Henri is upstairs with the girl. Seeing Marion pull into the driveway, Sylvain goes upstairs to warn Henri. The candy vendor hides in the bathroom, and Henri shoves Sylvain after her, closing the door as Marion climbs the stairs. After Marion hears the pair in the bathroom, Henri opens the door and lets them scoot by, explaining to Marion that he had caught the two making love in his bed. However, Pierre had been walking by and, from the sidewalk, had seen the naked candy vendor in Henri's bedroom.
Confusion arises as to who slept with whom. Pierre tries to warn Marion off of Henri because of what he saw, but she assures him that it was Sylvain who was cheating on Pauline with the candy girl. Pauline is hurt, but not heartbroken by the news. However, Henri's lie unfolds as everyone involved begins to compare notes. When Marion is called away for a brief meeting in Paris, Pauline learns the truth about Sylvain. She and Pierre go looking for him.
They end up running into Henri and Pierre at a restaurant in Granville, and they all return to Henri's house to make up over a champagne toast. Henri accepts responsibility for causing everyone so much trouble. Pauline does not completely forgive Sylvain, however, because by not telling the truth, he ended up hurting Pauline. When it is time to go for the evening, Pierre and Sylvain get into a scuffle over Pauline. She decides to stay at Henri's, since Marion is still away. In the morning, Henri tries to seduce Pauline, but she fends him off. He decides to leave on a 2-week sailing trip, and he writes a farewell letter to Marion.
Back at their cottage, Marion reads the letter, and Pauline suggests that they end their vacations early. Both have been disappointed in their affairs. After they drive out of the gate, Marion turns off the car and says to Pauline that she is going to choose to believe that Henri did not sleep with the candy vendor, because believing otherwise would be too painful. She suggested that Pauline can still rightfully believe that Sylvain also did not sleep with the candy vendor. The girls agree to hold on to their different truths, and they begin the drive back to Paris. The film closes on the same shot of the cottage gate.
described it as "effortlessly witty" and "effervescent" in his New York Times review. He concluded, "I hope that Pauline at the Beach will win new admirers for Mr. Rohmer, one of the most original and elegant film makers at work today in any country....Mr. Rohmer's works could not exist in any other form. Their particular character would float off any printed page. They combine images, language, action and cinematic narrative fluidity to create a kind of cinema that no one else has ever done before. Pauline at the Beach is another rare Rohmer treat."
Referencing the Chrétien de Troyes
quote that opens the film, "A wagging tongue bites itself", Pauline Kael wrote, "Pauline, who is the moral center of the film, doesn't carry tales. She listens to Marion deceiving herself and switching from one attitude to another as she tries to manipulate Henri. Pauline takes in what people say and what they do; she doesn't add to the talk with what she has heard."
at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival
. The film won the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1983 for Best Screenplay.
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
directed by Éric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. A figure in the post-war New Wave cinema, he was a former editor of Cahiers du cinéma....
. The film stars Amanda Langlet
Amanda Langlet
Amanda Langlet is a French actressShe began her career on television in Les 400 coups de Virginie in 1979, directed by Bernard Queysanne. A leading rôle in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach followed in 1983, Elsa,Elsa directed by Didier Haudepin in 1985, Rosette cherche une chambre in 1987 and...
, Arielle Dombasle
Arielle Dombasle
Arielle Dombasle is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa...
, Pascal Greggory
Pascal Greggory
-Filmography:* Les Soeurs Brontë by André Téchiné* Catherine de Heilbronn by Éric Rohmer* Pauline à la plage by Éric Rohmer* Le trio en si bémol by Éric Rohmer...
and Féodor Atkine
Féodor Atkine
Féodor Atkine is a French actor.Born in Paris of Russian-Polish descent, he has had a career in European cinema and television since the early 1970s, and made occasional appearances in English-language films, notably as the Russian gangster "Mikhi" in Ronin, as Woody Allen's brother in Love and...
.
Plot
The film opens on a shot of a wooden gate, as a car pulls up in front of it. Teenage Pauline (Amanda LangletAmanda Langlet
Amanda Langlet is a French actressShe began her career on television in Les 400 coups de Virginie in 1979, directed by Bernard Queysanne. A leading rôle in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach followed in 1983, Elsa,Elsa directed by Didier Haudepin in 1985, Rosette cherche une chambre in 1987 and...
) gets out of the car to open the gate, as her older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle
Arielle Dombasle
Arielle Dombasle is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa...
) drives inside their family's vacation home on the north-western coast of France. As the girls settle in to their trip, Marion quizzes Pauline on her love life, and Pauline confesses that she has not had any serious affairs of the heart.
On the beach, Marion spies her ex-lover Pierre (Pascal Greggory
Pascal Greggory
-Filmography:* Les Soeurs Brontë by André Téchiné* Catherine de Heilbronn by Éric Rohmer* Pauline à la plage by Éric Rohmer* Le trio en si bémol by Éric Rohmer...
). As they are getting reacquainted, a middle-aged man named Henri (Féodor Atkine
Féodor Atkine
Féodor Atkine is a French actor.Born in Paris of Russian-Polish descent, he has had a career in European cinema and television since the early 1970s, and made occasional appearances in English-language films, notably as the Russian gangster "Mikhi" in Ronin, as Woody Allen's brother in Love and...
) approaches and scolds Pierre for abandoning their windsurfing lessons. The quartet agree to have dinner together. Afterwards, they each talk briefly about their ideas of love in Henri's living room. Henri is happy to be free from any serious commitments, as he travels the world as an ethnographer. Marion wants to fall passionately in love at first sight, and she regrets her failed marriage to a man that she did not really love. Pierre is more cautious, and feels that love cannot form in an instant. Pauline listens quietly throughout and confesses that she agrees most of all with Pierre's idea of love, but that she has learned a lot from listening to all of them.
Henri suggests that they all go dancing at a nearby casino. At the casino, Pierre confesses that his love for Marion has been reignited by seeing her again. But she does not want any part in a relationship with him, due to his jealous nature. Instead, she chooses to sleep with Henri.
Back at the beach, Pierre tries to teach Marion and Pauline how to windsurf and some local boys approach. Sylvain (Simon de la Brosse) takes a liking to Pauline. Marion steals away to visit Henri. Before they make love again, she prods him about the nature of his feelings, worried that she is just a meaningless conquest to him. Meanwhile, Sylvain and Pauline begin an affair of their own.
In short order, Henri does in fact sleep with someone else, seducing a local candy vendor while Marion and Pauline are visiting Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches...
. Sylvain is watching TV downstairs at Henri's house, while Henri is upstairs with the girl. Seeing Marion pull into the driveway, Sylvain goes upstairs to warn Henri. The candy vendor hides in the bathroom, and Henri shoves Sylvain after her, closing the door as Marion climbs the stairs. After Marion hears the pair in the bathroom, Henri opens the door and lets them scoot by, explaining to Marion that he had caught the two making love in his bed. However, Pierre had been walking by and, from the sidewalk, had seen the naked candy vendor in Henri's bedroom.
Confusion arises as to who slept with whom. Pierre tries to warn Marion off of Henri because of what he saw, but she assures him that it was Sylvain who was cheating on Pauline with the candy girl. Pauline is hurt, but not heartbroken by the news. However, Henri's lie unfolds as everyone involved begins to compare notes. When Marion is called away for a brief meeting in Paris, Pauline learns the truth about Sylvain. She and Pierre go looking for him.
They end up running into Henri and Pierre at a restaurant in Granville, and they all return to Henri's house to make up over a champagne toast. Henri accepts responsibility for causing everyone so much trouble. Pauline does not completely forgive Sylvain, however, because by not telling the truth, he ended up hurting Pauline. When it is time to go for the evening, Pierre and Sylvain get into a scuffle over Pauline. She decides to stay at Henri's, since Marion is still away. In the morning, Henri tries to seduce Pauline, but she fends him off. He decides to leave on a 2-week sailing trip, and he writes a farewell letter to Marion.
Back at their cottage, Marion reads the letter, and Pauline suggests that they end their vacations early. Both have been disappointed in their affairs. After they drive out of the gate, Marion turns off the car and says to Pauline that she is going to choose to believe that Henri did not sleep with the candy vendor, because believing otherwise would be too painful. She suggested that Pauline can still rightfully believe that Sylvain also did not sleep with the candy vendor. The girls agree to hold on to their different truths, and they begin the drive back to Paris. The film closes on the same shot of the cottage gate.
Cast
- Amanda LangletAmanda LangletAmanda Langlet is a French actressShe began her career on television in Les 400 coups de Virginie in 1979, directed by Bernard Queysanne. A leading rôle in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach followed in 1983, Elsa,Elsa directed by Didier Haudepin in 1985, Rosette cherche une chambre in 1987 and...
as Pauline - Arielle DombasleArielle DombasleArielle Dombasle is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa...
as Marion - Pascal GreggoryPascal Greggory-Filmography:* Les Soeurs Brontë by André Téchiné* Catherine de Heilbronn by Éric Rohmer* Pauline à la plage by Éric Rohmer* Le trio en si bémol by Éric Rohmer...
as Pierre - Féodor AtkineFéodor AtkineFéodor Atkine is a French actor.Born in Paris of Russian-Polish descent, he has had a career in European cinema and television since the early 1970s, and made occasional appearances in English-language films, notably as the Russian gangster "Mikhi" in Ronin, as Woody Allen's brother in Love and...
as Henri - Simon de La Brosse as Sylvain
- RosetteRosette (actress)Rosette is a French actress and producer.-Roles :* Immoral Women * Pauline at the Beach * The Green Ray...
as Louisette - Marie Bouteloup as Marie (uncredited)
- Michel Ferry as Sylvain's Friend (uncredited)
Critical Reception
The film earned strong reviews when it was first released. Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
described it as "effortlessly witty" and "effervescent" in his New York Times review. He concluded, "I hope that Pauline at the Beach will win new admirers for Mr. Rohmer, one of the most original and elegant film makers at work today in any country....Mr. Rohmer's works could not exist in any other form. Their particular character would float off any printed page. They combine images, language, action and cinematic narrative fluidity to create a kind of cinema that no one else has ever done before. Pauline at the Beach is another rare Rohmer treat."
Referencing the Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...
quote that opens the film, "A wagging tongue bites itself", Pauline Kael wrote, "Pauline, who is the moral center of the film, doesn't carry tales. She listens to Marion deceiving herself and switching from one attitude to another as she tries to manipulate Henri. Pauline takes in what people say and what they do; she doesn't add to the talk with what she has heard."
Awards
Éric Rohmer won the Silver Bear for Best DirectorSilver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for best achievement in direction.-Awards:-Repeated winners:*Mario Monicelli *Satyajit Ray *Carlos Saura -External links:*...
at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival
33rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 33rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 18 to March 3, 1983.-Jury:* Jeanne Moreau * Alex Bänninger* Franco Brusati* Elem Klimov* Ursula Ludwig* Kurt Maetzig* Joseph L...
. The film won the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1983 for Best Screenplay.