Rendez-vous (film)
Encyclopedia
Rendez-vous is a 1985 French drama film directed by André Téchiné
. The film stars Juliette Binoche
, Lambert Wilson
, Wadeck Stanczak and Jean-Louis Trintignant
. Rendez-vous premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival
where it won the award for Best Director
. The film had a total of 766,811 admissions in France.
from her provincial home in Toulouse
searching immediate success as an actress. Tired of one-night stands and sharing quarters with others, she sets out to find her own apartment, stopping in to a realtor’s office. There, she meets Paulot, a timid real estate clerk, who is immediately smitten by her. She invites him to see her perform in the small role she has as a maid in a boulevard comedy. After the play, Nina takes Paulot for dinner with her current boyfriend Fred, but the couple has a major row, breaking off their relationship. Paulot offers Nina to stay at his apartment while she finds her own place, but his roommate, Quentin, refuses to let her stay. They have to settle for a hotel room for the night. In their long walk through the city, she tells Paulot that she has slept with nearly every man she has encountered. She complains to him that she is tired of being used solely for easy sex, and asks him to leave her alone.
Quentin, however, has followed them to the hotel; he forces his attentions on her. Nina and Quentin then begin an intense and violent liaison. An actor who performs in a live sex show version of Romeo and Juliet
, Quentin is unpredictable and provocative. Nina bounces between the two vastly different men: the gentle Paulot and the dangerous and intense Quentin. Nina has an approach/avoidance conflict with Quentin, all the while fending off offers by Paulot to care of her. When he finds that she has slept with Quentin, Paulot starts to change his calm manners towards Nina, but he does not lose his craving for her.
Quentin is run over and killed by a car, in what it seems to be a suicide. The only other person attending his funeral is the elderly theater director, Scrutzler, who eventually explains that in London he had cast Quentin as Romeo, but he had withdrawn after he survived a suicide pact with Scrutzler’s daughter, with whom he had a passionate love affair.
During casting of Romeo and Juliet, Scrutzler recognizes Nina among the aspiring actress for the role and cast her as Juliet.
Full of self-doubt and fear stimulated by the ghost-like appearances of the dead Quentin, Nina prepares for the role and copes with Paulot’s advances. They share an apartment, but have settled for a platonic relationship. However, Paulot is still in love with Nina and is jealous of Scrutzler interest on her. He confronts him, but in spite of the director assurance that his interest on her is only of a paternal nature, Paulot leaves Nina.
Nina struggles to rehearse her role as Juliet in the soon to be open play, but now after Paulot left her she realizes that it is him the one she is really in love with. Nina then goes to his work looking for him and entice him to make love to her. They have sex for the first time, in a violent and degrading coupling. Nina then insists in going for a long nocturnal walk, like the one they had the first time they met. She gives him a ticket for the coming opening night of Romeo and Juliet, but after he leaves her, he tears up the tickets, reaffirming his decision to break away from her.
Nina, nervously preparing for her entrance, suffers stage fright. Scrutzler calms her down, but then leaves for London, deciding she must continue on her own. As the film ends, Nina is left alone in the stage wings. The play is about to start...
André Téchiné
André Téchiné , is a French screenwriter and film director. He has had a long and distinguished career that places him among the best post-New Wave French film directors....
. The film stars Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
, Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson
Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...
, Wadeck Stanczak and Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant is a French actor who has enjoyed an international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Career:...
. Rendez-vous premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival
1985 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Miloš Forman *Claude Imbert *Edwin Zbonek *Francis Veber *Jorge Amado *Mauro Bolognini *Michel Perez *Mo Rothmann *Néstor Almendros *Sarah Miles...
where it won the award for Best Director
Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946....
. The film had a total of 766,811 admissions in France.
Plot
Nina is a young headstrong woman who has traveled to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
from her provincial home in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
searching immediate success as an actress. Tired of one-night stands and sharing quarters with others, she sets out to find her own apartment, stopping in to a realtor’s office. There, she meets Paulot, a timid real estate clerk, who is immediately smitten by her. She invites him to see her perform in the small role she has as a maid in a boulevard comedy. After the play, Nina takes Paulot for dinner with her current boyfriend Fred, but the couple has a major row, breaking off their relationship. Paulot offers Nina to stay at his apartment while she finds her own place, but his roommate, Quentin, refuses to let her stay. They have to settle for a hotel room for the night. In their long walk through the city, she tells Paulot that she has slept with nearly every man she has encountered. She complains to him that she is tired of being used solely for easy sex, and asks him to leave her alone.
Quentin, however, has followed them to the hotel; he forces his attentions on her. Nina and Quentin then begin an intense and violent liaison. An actor who performs in a live sex show version of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, Quentin is unpredictable and provocative. Nina bounces between the two vastly different men: the gentle Paulot and the dangerous and intense Quentin. Nina has an approach/avoidance conflict with Quentin, all the while fending off offers by Paulot to care of her. When he finds that she has slept with Quentin, Paulot starts to change his calm manners towards Nina, but he does not lose his craving for her.
Quentin is run over and killed by a car, in what it seems to be a suicide. The only other person attending his funeral is the elderly theater director, Scrutzler, who eventually explains that in London he had cast Quentin as Romeo, but he had withdrawn after he survived a suicide pact with Scrutzler’s daughter, with whom he had a passionate love affair.
During casting of Romeo and Juliet, Scrutzler recognizes Nina among the aspiring actress for the role and cast her as Juliet.
Full of self-doubt and fear stimulated by the ghost-like appearances of the dead Quentin, Nina prepares for the role and copes with Paulot’s advances. They share an apartment, but have settled for a platonic relationship. However, Paulot is still in love with Nina and is jealous of Scrutzler interest on her. He confronts him, but in spite of the director assurance that his interest on her is only of a paternal nature, Paulot leaves Nina.
Nina struggles to rehearse her role as Juliet in the soon to be open play, but now after Paulot left her she realizes that it is him the one she is really in love with. Nina then goes to his work looking for him and entice him to make love to her. They have sex for the first time, in a violent and degrading coupling. Nina then insists in going for a long nocturnal walk, like the one they had the first time they met. She gives him a ticket for the coming opening night of Romeo and Juliet, but after he leaves her, he tears up the tickets, reaffirming his decision to break away from her.
Nina, nervously preparing for her entrance, suffers stage fright. Scrutzler calms her down, but then leaves for London, deciding she must continue on her own. As the film ends, Nina is left alone in the stage wings. The play is about to start...
Cast
- Juliette BinocheJuliette BinocheJuliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
as Nina - Lambert WilsonLambert WilsonLambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...
as Quentin - Wadeck Stanczak as Paulot
- Jean-Louis TrintignantJean-Louis TrintignantJean-Louis Trintignant is a French actor who has enjoyed an international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Career:...
as Scrutzler - Dominique LavanantDominique LavanantDominique Lavanant in Morlaix, Finistère, is a César Award-winning French film and theatrical actress, famous for her comedy skills especially with posh and distinguished characters, like Rosalind Russell's; characters often defined by the adjective BCBG , bon chic bon genre, and which refers to a...
as Gertrude - Anne WiazemskyAnne WiazemskyPrincess Anne Wiazemsky is a French actress and novelist, of the Russian Rurikid family of Princes Vyazemsky-Counts Levashov. Through her mother, she is the granddaughter of François Mauriac. She appeared in Robert Bresson's Au hasard Balthazar and in Godard's films La Chinoise and Week End...
as Administrator - Jean-Louis Vitrac as Fred