Such a Pretty Little Beach

In the middle of winter, after the holiday season has closed, a man arrives in a seaside town. He gives his name only as Pierre and takes a room at the only hotel still open. The rain does not stop, the town is empty, and there are a few people at the hotel. It becomes evident that the man knows the place, but he does not say why he has come. The people there are curious, and then begin to suspect. Yves Allégret's film comes from the most pessimistic strand of post-war French cinema. There is almost no plot; the weight is in the weather, the empty streets and the man's face. Gérard Philipe plays Pierre and gives one of the least glamorous, most closed-in performances of his career. Why he came becomes clear towards the end, and at that moment every scene has to be read again another way. Madeleine Robinson plays the woman who works at the hotel.