Customer Reviews

Pauline at the Beach [VHS]

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4 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pauline at the Beach is a charming, funny and wise film from Eric Rohmer. It is the story of pretty teenager Pauline who is staying with her older cousin Marion on the French coast. In the course of this holiday they interact with three men, which leads to romance for both of them and to various complications. The story is engaging, with fully developed believable characters. The acting is superb, especially that of Amanda Langlet as Pauline. Rohmer shows once more that he remains in tune with youth and can direct a performance from a teenager better than most.

The film is part of Rohmer's comedies and proverbs series, which makes it a pity that the film's proverb by Chretien de Troyes is left untranslated on the DVD. This proverb ("Qui trop parole, il se mesfait") means roughly that he who talks too much damages himself. This is an interesting comment on the film, both in terms of what happens and in terms of Rohmer's style of filmmaking. As in all Rohmer films there is a lot of talk with characters endlessly discussing the nature of love and their relationships. Rohmer seems to be saying that it is this talk which leads to the problems they encounter, for by intellectualising they fail to talk honestly and directly.

Rohmer is not for everyone. Even fans of French film may find his films difficult. But he is a director who is well worth getting to know and Pauline at the Beach is a very good introduction to his work. It is light and beautiful to look at with stunning photography of French beaches. This is a fine DVD with a good print shown in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The sound is clear and audible and the dialogue, as far as I could tell, is translated well. For those with better French than mine, the subtitles are removable. The only extra is a trailer without subtitles. For Rohmer fans this DVD is essential, for those who have yet to discover him, my advice is to give Pauline a try.

"Pauline at the Beach" is a fun comedy of errors set along the beaches of western Normandy in the early 1980s.

Pauline (played by Amanda Langlet) is a fifteen-year old spending part of her summer vacation with her gorgeous, divorced cousin Marion (played by Arielle Dombasle) at a home loaned by Marion's brother. Pauline wants to make friends and has never been in love before. Marion believes love erupts passionately and spontaneously. Both are in for adventures.

Graduate student Pierre (played by Pascal Greggory) still carries a torch for Marion from the days before she married five years ago. Meanwhile, he wants to teach Pauline and Marion wind surfing. Divorced ethnologist Henri (played by Feodor Atkine) shows up and attracts Marion. Sylvain (played by Simon de La Brosse) is a local guy Pauline's age who takes an interest in her. There is a strolling vendor of peanuts and candy, Louisette, who is extra friendly with Henri, but is there a connection with Sylvain too? Just how well do you have to know someone before falling in love? All the makings of conflict and misunderstanding are there. Both Pauline and Marion learn to manage their interpretations and feelings.

The movie moves along nicely, although there are some reasonably interesting stops for discussion of the values and expectations of falling in love. The actors all do a good job, especially Dombasle and de La Brosse. Marion and Louisette have nude scenes; all characters have bathing suit scenes. The photography and direction are fine.

The main negative is the lack of a commentary track or other features, other than the original trailer and a few other MGM trailers. There is no paper insert with chapter titles. The movie is in monaural French with optional English, French, or Spanish subtitles.

Rare is a movie where you can get into the head of a character who acts like a real person. I would love to find more movies like this. This movie is about a teenager and her adult cousin who vacation at the beach, and about the people they meet and relationships they form. And for those who did enjoy this movie, check out "A Summer's Tale". You will be able to see Pauline (the teenager in this movie) 13 years older. Rohmer is a fantastic director who looks at people, and lets them display their humanity. I highly reccomend this movie for people of any age who are interested in the interpersonal dynamics between people.

I also reccomend this movie because it stands up to repeated veiwings. With each additional viewing, more can be discovered about the characters.

This is a movie where there is no action, rather we are the fly on the wall and we listen in to conversations. The main character in the movie is Pauline, a teenager, vacationing at the beach with her older cousin. The older cousin is married, but not happily married. During their vacation, they meet some men, have conversations about life, and love. We see relationships develop, others fall apart, some tell the truth, and others lie. What this film illustrates, in such a subtle way, is the people who are honest are the ones who are the most happy. Those who lie to others, or to themselves, seem stuck in a melancholic exsistance. By the end of the movie, it turns out the teenage girl is the one who is the wisest of them all.

The DVD has good picture quality, as good as from any movie made in the 1980's I have seen. You can turn the subtitles on or off, unlike some DVDs that burn the subtitles into the picture.

An absolutely perfect job. The pristine transfer shows this film in a comepletely new light. The colors are vibrant, lending a real "summer" feel to the movie. There is not a hint of dirt or damage to the film. It looks like a new transfer was struck for this DVD. You have the choice of English, French, and Spanish subtitles which could also be shut off completely if desired. After many poor DVD transfers of Rohmer films, we finally have one that is worthy of such a fine director. Let's hope his other titles eventually get this same treatment.

"Pauline At The Beach" (1983) is an interesting film that you are likely to enjoy, even if you are not one of Eric Rohmer's fans. If you are already an admirer, though, you will simply love this movie, due to the fact that it displays the reason why Rohmer is such a respected director.

Before talking about this film, a short introduction to Rohmer for those that are not familiar with him is in order. Rohmer (Jean Marie Maurice Schérer, born in 1920 in France) is part of "La Nouvelle Vague" (= "The new wave"), a movement that says that the director is an "author" and that as such, his personal signature is evident in his work. Among the most well-known films of this French director, there is a cycle of films called "Six Moral Tales", a series called "Comedies and Proverbs" (in which each film is based on a different proverb), and a third series entitled "Tales of the Four Seasons".

"Pauline At The Beach" (= "Pauline à la plage"») is the third film in the "Comedies and Proverbs" series, and the proverb around which it is centered is "Qui trop parole, il se mesfait". The plot is not difficult to follow, but it is interesting, specially if you pay close attention to the dialogues among the characters, a Rohmer trademark.

The main character is Pauline (Amanda Langlet), a young teenager that goes to the beach with Marion (Arielle Dombasle), a relative that has divorced recently and is ready for something new, in other words an affair. Pierre (Pascal Greggory), an old acquaintance and Henri (Feodor Atkine), a newcomer, vie for Marion's attention. Pauline thinks that Pierre is the right one for her cousin, but Marion has other ideas, preferring Henri. Henri is not as smitten with her as Pierre, but that, and the fact that he remains elusive, are part of his attraction from Marion's point of view. Pauline will also meet a young boy, Sylvain (Simon de La Brosse), with whom she begins something resembling a relationship. But how will her cousin's love life affect her own? And will their differing views regarding love affect their new relationships?

The dialogue about the true nature of love among Pauline, Marion, Pierre and Henry is one of the highlights of this film. The undercurrents between the older characters are deep, and in that sense, Pauline directness is refreshing. This dialogue also allows the spectator to get at least an idea of how things are going to end for each of the characters, even though, of course, there are some unexpected surprises.

All in all, I think this is one of Rohmer's best films, along with "A summer tale", "A winter tale" and "Boyfriends and girlfriends". Highly recommended!

Belen Alcat

'Wag the dog' was a film that everybody thought was just another comedy, more or less. This edition of 'Pauline at the Beach' may make some people think otherwise (provided they read this review).
Towards the end of the first quarter of the film, Pauline wanders around the house and steps up to a window and peeks in. There she sees her older female friend lying stark naked in the arms of a man Pauline also knows. You see a full frontal nudity in the film here - that is, if you saw the film when it premiered in Europe, as I did.
On this DVD however, you will see a blanket covering the lower halves of the bodies, taking away all the impact of the scene. Now, that would not be so terrible if the cover-up was obvious. It would still be sad because of the censorship, but it would not be so frigtening as this is: BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY OF TELLING THAT THERE IS A CENSORSHIP HERE! The blanket fits perfectly into the picture and had I not remembered this scene in particular ..... , I would never have suspected any foul play here.
The film is not without interest anyway and, low and behold, there is another full frontal in it - so why did thet cover up this one. Did some rich and influential american mary the actress in question or what is goin on.
Other censorship, like the omitting of a very funny nude scene in 'There was a Crooked Man (with H. Fonda and K. Douglas)', in which the riot scene when the convicts brake out from the wall of the prison and chases the society woman, whom the have stripped (off-screen) and who, by now, is nude and fleeing - everything filmed from far away as not to be speculative but still possible to make out - when such a scene is just cut out of the film, you still know what's going on somehow. But this is something quite different! It's really exceptionally foul play.
I shudder at what will be happening in the future. .....

Much conversation (it's Rohmer) about sex and relationships which 14 year old Pauline contributes to only occasionally. She wisely listens and observes until finally being sucked into the vortex of games played by the adults. Since it's Rohmer, everyone behaves relatively civilly and everyone emerges intact though a bit more damaged by life than at the start.

One of Eric Rohmer's most enjoyable meditations on love and its discontents, "Pauline" is abetted by the presence of Langlet, an endearing and assured young actress. Rohmer takes his time observing his five characters and lets us get to know their (often deceptive) behavior, a tack that works wonders in his lively world of erotic farce. Jealousy, indiscretion, and human foibles are the thematic materials Rohmer works with here, all of which enmesh vain Marion in a love triangle of sorts, but it's young Pauline who seems to have the best head on her shoulders when it comes to sex and relationships. Smart, funny, insightful, and yes, trés sexy.

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.