Pauline at the Beach
by Eric Rohmer
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Actor: Amanda Langlet, Arielle Dombasle, Féodor Atkine, Pascal Greggory, Simon de La BrosseDirector: Eric Rohmer
Brand: ROHMER,ERIC
Cinematographer: Néstor Almendros
Writer: Eric Rohmer
Editor: Chris Tate
Editor: Cécile Decugis
Producer: Margaret Ménégoz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 94 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-04
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Pauline at the Beach
DVD Review: Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies
Summary: 4 Stars
I remember PAULINE AT THE BEACH being one of Eric Rohmer's bigger hits stateside on it's initial release; no doubt that had more than a little to do with the provocative poster art featuring swimsuit-clad Arielle Dombasle, one of the serious blonde bombshells of the period. But it's also a bit lighter, frothier, and smoother on the palate than some of the director's other "Comedies and Proverbs", of which this is the third entry. The films on either side, Le Beau Mariage and Full Moon in Paris both register as slightly more serious looks at women trying to find true love and independence; PAULINE on the other hand is for the most part an airy summer fling - though not without it's more serious moments, even if they register for the most part easily on the surface.
Pauline (Amanda Langlet) is a 15-year old girl who has never been in love before, and her decade-older cousin, glamorous and model-beautiful Marion (Dombasle) is determined that their summer in Granville, a seaside town in Normandy, should offer her the opportunity to meet boys and gain experience. But through much of the film, it's Marion who is getting the experience, falling in with the older, charming intellectual Henri (Féodor Atkine, who also appears in FULL MOON IN PARIS) even as her friend from years before Pierre (Pascal Greggory) is trying to win her heart. It soon turns out that Henri isn't quite the guy Marion imagines him to be, and his intrigues eventually catch Pauline up as well as she tries to develop something with Sylvain (Simon de la Brosse), a boy her own age. Ultimately, she is in for a loss of innocence, of course - but not so much through sex as through learning more about the ways that adults take to get out of hurting others, or themselves.
The film begins with a proverb - "A wagging tongue bites itself" - but interestingly enough it's just as much about the lies we tell ourselves, and the trouble we get into through not understanding ourselves, as it is about the complications that arise from the little lies we tell each other. One little falsehood in the film ends up affecting all the main characters - but it's clear that if they were all being honest about what they wanted, and were able to look past surface charms and witty conversation, the lies they tell each other would never be said. Rohmer doesn't take the easy route and tell us that Marion would actually be better off with Pierre - or that Pierre might have a better chance with the candy girls - but he does show us that these people all have imaginations that aren't in synch with their real situations. All except Pauline - who doesn't like what she sees of the stories the adults make up to deal with each other, but is helpless to stay out of oncoming maturity.
This has a more polished look than most of Rohmer's 1980s films, being shot by the great Spanish cinematographer Nestor Almendros, whose work comes off quite beautifully on this DVD. Almendros was marvellous at capturing bright sunlight, and the slight differences in skin colors and textures in the attractive cast are highlighted and help to provide a sensuality that's a little more overt than in most of the director's work. Of the cast I particularly like Atkine, who manages to be quite charming - turning rather sleazy - and then again a bit more sympathetic at the end, when we realize that he's probably, deep down, more honest than most of the characters. I don't know that this is one of Rohmer's best films, but it's certainly one of the more "fun", if that's a word that can apply to this philosophical moralist. I'd love to see the whole Comedies and Proverbs in one set, like the early "Six Moral Tales" on Criterion, but fans don't need to hesitate in getting this DVD, which is much better looking than the old VHS.
Description of Pauline at the Beach
Teenager Pauline spends a holiday at the beach with her recently divorced cousin Marion. She observes that Marion loves well, but not wisely.Genre: Foreign Film - French
Rating: R
Release Date: 7-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD
In the lighthearted third film in Eric Rohmer's "Comedies and Proverbs" series, 15-year-old Pauline (Amanda Langlet) gets an eye-opening lesson in the games grown-ups play on a two-week summer vacation with her recently divorced and ready-for-fun older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle, every inch the vivacious blonde goddess). Smitten young Pascal Greggory turns aggressive with jealousy when the smooth, seductive, happily shallow writer Féodor Atkine wins the fancy of the "perfect" Marion while continuing to fool around on the side. The tangled affairs, mistaken identities, and white lies are the stuff of sex farce, but Rohmer is more interested in the folly of love and the impulsive, illogical workings of human nature. He deftly crafts a gentle and sexy little human comedy that ends with Pauline learning perhaps the right lessons after all. --Sean Axmaker
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