Pauline at the Beach

Éric Rohmer's film, set during a summer holiday. Marion is about to divorce; she comes to a house on the Normandy coast with her fifteen-year-old cousin Pauline. There they meet Pierre, an old acquaintance of Marion's, and his friend Henri. Pauline meets a boy her own age. The rest is entirely conversation. The adults produce theories about love: for one it is sudden and absolute, for another freedom is essential, for a third one should build no expectations. Then each of them does the opposite of what they said. The most interesting thing is Pauline's position. She gives the film its title and speaks least; she watches, and sees how the adults break the order they made themselves. Rohmer's method is the same here: the camera does not intervene, the scenes are long, and the plot is built out of small misunderstandings. The film belongs to his Comedies and Proverbs series and opens with a proverb. Amanda Langlet plays Pauline and Arielle Dombasle plays Marion. A suitable way into Rohmer for anyone who likes French cinema and films built on talk. For a viewer wanting incident, almost nothing happens across the film.