Pauline à la plage (1983)

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Writer:

Eric Rohmer (writer)

Release Date:

23 March 1983 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Marion is about to divorce from her husband and takes her 15-year-old niece Pauline on a vacation to Granville. She meets an old love...

Plot Keywords:

Vacation | Cousin | Seaside | Beach | Female Nudity

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Amanda Langlet	...	Pauline
Arielle Dombasle	...	Marion
Pascal Greggory	...	Pierre
Féodor Atkine	...	Henri
Simon de La Brosse	...	Sylvain
Rosette	...	Louisette
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marie Bouteloup	...	Marie (uncredited)
Michel Ferry	...	Sylvain's Friend (uncredited)

Directed by
Eric Rohmer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Eric Rohmer		writer

Produced by
Margaret Ménégoz	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean-Louis Valéro

Cinematography by
Néstor Almendros

Film Editing by
Cécile Decugis
Chris Tate		(as Christopher Tate)

Production Management
Marie Bouteloup	....	unit manager
Hervé Grandsart	....	unit manager

Sound Department
Dominique Hennequin	....	sound mixer
Gérard Lecas	....	sound assistant
Georges Prat	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Florent Bazin	....	assistant camera
Pierre Coudsi	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Caroline Thivel	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Michel Ferry	....	assistant manager

Production Companies

• Les Films Ariane
• Les Films du Losange

Distributors

• Acteurs Auteurs Associés (AAA) (1983) (France) (theatrical)
• Gaumont/Columbia TriStar Home Video (GCTHV) (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Europa Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD) (Portuguese and French subtitles)
• Guerilla Films (UK)
• Kinokuniya (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Orion Classics (USA) (subtitled)
• Orion Pictures Corporation (USA)

Other Companies

• Alga-Samuelson  camera systems
• Auditel  editing
• Banc public  titles
• Ciné Lumières de Paris  electrical equipment
• S.I.S.  auditorium

Also Known As:

Pauline at the Beach
Sous le soleil (France) (working title)
I Pauline stin paralia (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
I Pauline stin plage (Greece) [el]
Paulina na Praia (Portugal) [pt]
Paulina na plazy (Poland) [pl]
Pauline a la platja (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Pauline alla spiaggia (Italy) [it]
Pauline am Strand (West Germany) [de]
Pauline en la playa (Spain) [es]
Pauline na Praia (Brazil) [pt]
Pauline rantatyttö (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl | USA:R | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Mont Saint-Michel, Manche, France

Company:

Les Films Ariane

Quotes:

Henri: Tourists bring out the killer in me!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinéma, de notre temps: Eric Rohmer - Preuves à l'appui" (1994)

"L'amour, c'est quand sous la surface, on saisit d'un seul coup d'oeil tout la profondeur d'un etre"

The summer is dying as Marion and her young cousin Pauline arrive at a Normandy coastal resort for a short vacation. They meet up with Pierre, an old friend, and Henri, an older man with whom Marion becomes involved.

A charming little essay on love and desire, this film could be called slow and slight - no matter, it follows its own internal purpose. These unexceptional people talk, lie, argue and make love in a natural and convincing way.

Pauline (Amanda Langlet) is a witty 15-year-old who blossoms in the course of the story. We first see her wearing a sailor suit, looking child-like and presexual. She watches the antics of the adults with detached contempt, then meets Sylvain (Simon de la Brosse), a teenage beach bum with whom she becomes intimate. Pauline rises above the jealousies and posturings of the grown-ups and in a subtle way becomes the dominant figure in this ramshackle little group of vacationers.

Rohmer wrote and directed this little comedy of love, and his chief satirical target is Marion (Arielle Dombasle). On the rebound from a foolish marriage, Marion enjoys posing as the worldly-wise older cousin, and she patronises Pauline abominably. It does not take long for Marion to betray herself as a phoney who talks in grandiloquent terms of love and the inner self, but who plays petty courtship games in a social circle of no consequence. "Je veux bruler d'amour", says this pompous prick teaser.

It is clear as soon as Marion meets Henri (Feodor Atkine) that she has the hots for him. Her former amour Pierre (Pascal Greggory) is ever after playing catch-up as the mating-dance between Marion and Henri intensifies.

The fulcrum of the film is the frolic in the sea involving the free-spirited Henri and the sweet-seller Rosette, who are joined by Sylvain. The latter is at a loose end because Marion and Pauline have gone on a day trip to Mont St-Michel, so he splashes in the sea with the older couple. To avert Marion's jealousy, Henri says that it was Sylvain who was trying to bed Rosette, not he - which leads to a major squabble.

Plot is unimportant in this delicate reflection on love and sexual desire. The film is an attractive ensemble piece whose characters linger in the mind long after action movies have been forgotten. Extensive passages of dialogue, endless ruminations on personal relationships and nuances of behaviour are the fabric of this edifice.

Verdict - very intelligent, very pretentious, very flirtatious, very longwinded, yet very appealing. Very French.