"Pauline at the Beach" **** (out of ****)Given that Valentine's day is coming up I felt it would be appropriate to review a romantic film. When the idea came to me I instantly knew there was only one director I need turn to; Eric Rohmer. What other filmmaker has explored the joys of love and all its perplexities the way Rohmer has?
Many people strangely do not like Rohmer. They find his films too "talky", not enough action, nothing ever happens is the standard complaint. But Rohmer doesn't make action movies. His films are not adventures. They are adventures of the heart but no chase scenes.
Oddly it is what bothers most about Rohmer's films that I enjoy most. I love the dialogue. Some consider it pretentious but I find it realistic. Rohmer's characters say what is in our hearts. We may not know anyone who speaks the way his characters do but we wish we did. The French take love so serious.
"Pauline at the Beach" is probably the best film I have seen which demonstrates the irrational nature of love. One of my favorite lines about love comes from Woody Allen's "Manhattan" when Allen tries to explain love to his 17 year old girlfriend, Tracy. He tells her something along the lines of, none of know what the hell we're doing. How true. Here is a film which proves Allen's point.
"Pauline at the Beach" is basically a series of misadventures focusing on characters falling in love with the wrong people. Pauline, (Amanda Langlet) is a 15 year old on vacation who has been left in the hands of her older cousin, Marion (Arielle Dombasle), a recent divorcee. Pauline wants to head out to the beach, which she hasn't been to yet. Marion, playfully suggest perhaps Pauline wants to meet a boy and fall in love. But Pauline says she has never been in love and Marion says, despite her marriage, she too has never felt a deep passionate love either.
The two ladies run into an old friend of Marion's, Pierre (Pascal Greggory). The two used to date. Pierre was the last man Marion was with before she got married. Also at the beach is an acquaintance of Pierre's, Henri (Feodor Atkine). He instantly makes the moves on Marion even though we can tell Pierre is still in love with her. The four of them go out dancing and discuss love and what they are searching for.
As we hear each character explain what they want we sense none of them are truly being honest with one another. Marion says she wants to "burn" with love. But it must be impulsive. She has already made a mistake and is determine not to make another. But how can one be impulsive and not make a mistake? We can also sense Marion is a tease. She pretends to be naive about her looks but she knows perfectly well what she does to men. She goes for the innocent angle.
Next we hear Pierre who says he must be friends with a person first and only then can he fall in love with someone. Henri feels each person should live to the fullest and not get tied down. Whereas Pauline calls them on their bluffs and says she is not looking for love yet is hopeful one day it will come along.
As the film goes on Pierre confesses his love to Marion, who tells him she is not looking for love despite having just said she is. So, naturally, she hooks up with Henri to make Pierre jealous and then believes they are in a deep meaningful relationship despite his feelings that sex is a sport and each woman is a new conquest. Pauline meets a boy, despite saying she doesn't want to, and believes she is in love.
The point I think Rohmer is making here is we all talk about love. We all pretend to know what we want. We are looking for someone who is this tall, has this color hair, weights this much, has this color eyes, has this job and then we meet someone who is the complete opposite. We have ideas in our head about what we want but never find it. Love is irrational. It makes us go against our better judgement.
Pierre says he will always love Marion after she rejects him. Marion says you can't force love. Marion is right, you can't force love. Two people can each other and on paper seem like a perfect couple. They can have everything in common but if there is no attraction, what's the good of it? Pierre can love Marion all he wants but if she doesn't love him back his love is wasted.
Rohmer allows more confusion to escalate as he turns the film into a light hearted sex farce as two people are believed to have been in bed together when one of them is covering for another.
The film ends with two characters having a frank discussion about this incident. The situation has been completely cleared up only one of them doesn't know it. They each agree to believe their own version because in the end it will make them both happy. And that is the thing about love. We believe in our own idea of it whether or not it is based on fact. We believe this person is right for us because we want to even though everyone around us tells us we are wrong.
Eric Rohmer is so good at making these light hearted examinations on love and how we lie to our heart to fall in love with an idea instead of the person. While his films could very easily turn into serious dramas I never feel they do. He is always playful with the material.
Rohmer is best known for his "Six Moral Tales" which included "My Night at Maud's", "Claire's Knee" and "Chloe in the Afternoon". He liked to make films which we part of a series. "Pauline at the Beach" was part of his "comedies & proverbs" series which also included "A Good Marriage". Another successful series he had was late in his career, during the 1990s, his "Tale of Four Seasons" series featured one of my favorite of his films "A Tale of Winter".
For all the joy Rohmer's work brings me it sadden me to say he has decided to stop directing. At 87 he has said his "Romance of Astrea and Celadon" will be his last work. Given his age it probably will be. It is a charming, however minor, film. I will miss not being able to look forward to a new Rohmer film, but with classics like "Pauline at the Beach" still with us we can relive their joys and watch characters engage in the follies of the heart as we do in real life.
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