Post by StevePulaski on Aug 10, 2017 13:42:33 GMT -5
Pauline at the Beach (1983)
Directed by: Éric Rohmer
Directed by: Éric Rohmer
From left: Pauline (Amanda Langlet), Henri (Féodor Atkine), and Marion (Arielle Dombasle).
Rating: ★★★½
The characters in Éric Rohmer's inquisitive comedy Pauline at the Beach babble endlessly about the perceived conventions of love, padding their dialog with their own unique beliefs on the subject, and then proceed to have their differing feelings on relationships clash over the course of 94 massively entertaining minutes.
The core of the film is inhabited by two French girls, the titular one, played by Amanda Langlet, a fifteen-year-old who has never been attracted nor committed to anyone. During a lengthy scene that comes early in the film, Pauline sits, mostly quiet, listening to her older friend Marion (Arielle Dombasle) entertain polar opposite male friends of hers about her belief in love at first sight. The man she is currently seeing, Henri, played by Féodor Atkine, disregards commitment and is seeing Marion strictly out of admiration of her ideal figure, natural beauty, and her embodiment of the "bimbo" stereotype in looks. The other man is Pierre (Pascal Greggory), a hopeless romantic made even more hopeless by his unrequited love for Marion, who he believes is off, yet again, hurting herself with another man who doesn't value her.
After their healthy conversation, Pauline meets a young boy her age named Sylvain (Simon de La Brosse), with whom she has an innocuous fling. Sylvain, however, in all his teenage naivety, gets roped into a plan to cover one of the adult's tracks, and therein sets off the characters, making them believe each of them is as dishonest as the next.
Rohmer's film - shot off of the French coast - opens with a telling quote that acts as a "proverb" for the film's premise (fittingly capturing that this is third in Rohmer's "Comedies and Proverbs" series). The quote is "Qui trop parole, il se mesfait" ("A wagging tongue bites itself"). Sounding nothing short of a quote your grandmother would tell you when you were being a gossip, the line represents Pauline's more-or-less "coming of age" period where all the adults around her seem to be talking at a deafening volume with her and her relationship caught in the middle. Pauline knows how innocuous this whole scenario is; she doesn't see Marion's relationship with Henri as an eventual detriment to her well-being like Pierre does nor sees Sylvain as a heart-throb whom without she'd be lost and miserable. She gets a glimpse, if only for a brief couple days, that when it comes to relationships, even adults often have a high school, shallow level of maturity.
The three men of the film all fit into a different class and the film gives them each time to plead their case. Henri acts as a certain manipulator at times, yet it's tough to nail down a moment where he ever seems like he isn't in control of a situation or an outcome. Even if his next moves aren't calculated, we can tell that he has a certain level of conviction when a new or unexpected situation comes knocking. With Pierre, we see a more sympathetic, if sometimes aggravating, illustration of the "nice guy," who has adored Marion for years, wanting to take the next step, but is keen on waiting until she comes to her own realization or until his love runs out and it's too late. A great scene takes place between Pierre and Pauline over breakfast, where Pierre tells her all of this and Pauline calls him out for being shortsighted and anticipatory of a fallout between Marion and Henri for personal gain even if it means Marion's happiness and trust is hurt. She then follows up with a great observation about Pierre's personality being familiar and therefore unexciting to her, whereas Henri, despite his age and noticeably womanizing gestures, is still an enigma to her.
Then there's Sylvain, who is most like Pauline despite being a bit more clueless. A pawn in an act of cowardice, Sylvain is one of the most innocent movie teenagers in recent memory, not painted like a sex-obsessed buffoon as he might have been in an American comedy. A precious scene between him and Pauline comes when they first meet, and Pauline tells Sylvain she doesn't like to be touched. It doesn't stop him from gently pouring small handfuls of sand on her calves and feet, to which she innocently and comfortably smiles.
Pauline at the Beach is a wryly funny movie of locational and character detail; a film crafted from a detail-oriented mind with an intelligence and awareness of how to handle a plethora of souls, all about equally lost. The film is marked by a great ending as well, one that effectively makes the film come full circle while boasting a telling lesson of allowing both girls to come to their own conclusion and delusion as well. It's a breezy beach farce, but don't mistake it for lacking substance.
Starring: Amanda Langlet, Arielle Dombasle, Féodor Atkine, Pascal Greggory, and Simon de La Brosse. Directed by: Éric Rohmer.