PAULINE AT THE BEACH Movie Review

Pauline á la Plage

15-year old Pauline (Amanda Longlet accompanies her beautiful, considerably more experienced older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle) to the French coast, vaguely considering the possibility of romance. As is typical in the comedies of Eric Rohmer, a great deal of conversation takes place on the subjects of fidelity, love, sex, and trust. And as is inevitable in Rohmer, a series of gently amusing but thoroughly unpredictable events produce some startling coincidences and some surprising romantic couplings (and uncouplings). Pauline at the Beach is part of Rohmer's “Comedies and Proverbs” cycle; it might be crudely summarized as a sexual cross between “The Tortoise and the Hare” and that old saw about “those who can, do; those who cannot, teach.” But if Pauline at the Beach feels just a tad less substantial than some of Rohmer's other films, there are compensating factors. Nestor Almendros's high-calorie color cinematography makes the film seem like … well, a day at the beach. And the young cast, as always in Rohmer's films, is remarkable. But it's Arielle Dombasle who provides much of Pauline’s comic sparkle and visual appeal—when she's on screen, she's the film. (She was extensively featured in the advertising for Pauline at the Beach, and—wonder of wonders—the film became Rohmer's biggest American hit.) A pleasure.

NEXT STOP … Claire's Knee, Summer, Rendezvous in Paris

1983 (R) 95m/C FR Amanda Langlet, Arielle Dombasle, Pascal Greggory, Rosette; D: Eric Rohmer; W: Eric Rohmer; C: Nestor Almendros. VHS, LV XVC