Pauline at the Beach

Pauline á la plage
(Eric Rohmer / France / 1982)




"A wagging tongue bites itself"

The third film in french director Eric Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs series, Pauline a la plage, was made in 1982 and discusses the romantic adventures of the titles protagonist, the fifteen year old Pauline (Amanda Langlet), and her older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle) during vacation.

The proverb placed at the beginning of the film, could apply to Marion, when she openly adresses the topic of love, after having met a former boyfriend as well as a new admirer on the beach, but in fact adresses the entanglements which will develop in the days following this event.

Besides the two cousins, Rohmer will introduce only four other characters to the viewer. Pierre (Pascal Greggory) Marion’s former lover and friend, finds out that he has still some strong feelings about her when they meet after five years. Marion has an unsuccesful marriage behind her, and also the bad habit of getting engaged with men with whom she seems to be a bad match. One such person is Henri (Féodor Atkine) who is a bit older than Pierre, and presented as something of an opposite to him. When Marion falls in love with him, he takes advantage of the situation but quickly gets tired of her, only to leave in the end. He is presented as a superficial and somewhat egoist person, who has had enough troubles in his life and has decided to enjoy himself in the future. À free-spirited person, he is reluctant to take on responsibilities for his actions. Sylvain (Simon de La Brosse), the love-interest for Pauline on the other hand is a more honest person, but with a notion of loyalty that will also leave him alone in the end.

The outsider to the quintett is the flower girl Louisette (Rosette). She has a life of her own, but is eager to get (sexually) involved with some of the men. As a character she is rather disposable, as she is used mostly as a catalyst for the plot, and an exemplar which Rohmer uses to emphasize the differing characterizations of the other protagonists.

Marion is contrasted with Louisette, a peddler who seems rather proletarian compared to Marion’s more sophisticated behaviour from what one would call in England “upper middle-class”. Nevertheless, Marion is more naïve than Louisette, who seems despite her lack of education (or maybe even intellect) witty and sure of herself. And she definitely knows what she wants – something Marion is not even close to. Pauline on the other hand, while still being a child, is presented as the most adult of the characters, the one who is most aware of her actions, and the one who will be changed most at the end.

Rohmer plays a game of appearances in which the attitudes of the characters and their ideas of themselves are contrasted with their actions. In the end, none of them are what they appeared to be at first, though after all is said and done there is usually not much to be found behind the appearances.

Unlike most of Rohmer’s films, Pauline a la plage was not shot in the academy aspect ratio (4:3 on TV’s) he is usually associated with. The cinematography by long time collaborator Nestor Almendros plays with some colors, mostly white and blue, which are contrasted quite often. His camerawork is also the one thing which brings some depth into a rather formulaic endeavour. While Rohmer at times seems to be rehearsing for another film, or trying out some rather old ideas, Almendros is always in control, giving the characters more nuanced performances through his placing of the camera while adding to the way that a situation can be interpreted. This is used in a good way at the very end of the film, where the first shot of the movie is being mirrored, and we get a sense of closure in a film where not much has been happening. Judging by the plot, which is definitely the movie’s weakest construct, there has been happening quite a lot. But the plot is cliched and the dialogue and the character’s behaviour often predictable. What elevated other films by Rohmer like the wonderful Conte d'automne (1998) or the breathtaking L’anglaise et le duc (2001) from “filmed theater” (if I might use this derogative term) was his extraordinary sense of pacing combined with the complexity of the characters expressed through their language as well as their surroundings. But the pace is too fast in Pauline a la plage, and there are very few scenes where nothing is happening to the characters and the beauty of the places and of nature can be felt to the full extent. When Pauline is walking through the garden, touching the flowers, or when we see some of the characters bathing in the sea, these are only glimpses of the wonderful “wandering” camerawork we are able to witness in Conte d'automne. But Rohmer could have also used the dramatic acceleration of events like in L’anglaise et le duc, where he achieved a gripping form of suspense when he contrasted them with a downplay of the sensational aspects of the story as well as the “de-dramatization” of the material through the underacting of the characters and the observing camera which could be seen as a silent commentator.

None of these strategies are fully developed in Pauline a la plage, making the film appear like a preparation for bigger things to come. If we compare this film with Rohmer’s Le rayon vert, which he made three years later in 1986, we can see a tremendous development. While the characters and situations in Pauline a la plage at times feel artificial and much takes place on the surface, Le rayon vert makes them come to life, and only a few hints are necessary in an even more compressed storyline, to make us aware of the richness and complexity of every single character, even when he is only a few minutes on screen. Seeing how these films play in two different leagues makes Pauline a la plage appear as somewhat of a failure. But that would be too harsh a term considering the expertness of its makers and the entertaining qualities of the film, which both cannot be denied.