Pauline at the Beach Reviews

Sin la excesiva densidad de Mi noche con Maud ni la molesta banalidad de El rayo verde, se nota como Rohmer poco a poco se iba alejando del estilo vanguardista y de la anti-trama de la Nouvelle Vague mientras evolucionaba a uno más confortable pero no por eso vacío. Hay una enorme belleza en esta historia de decepciones amorosas en donde sin embargo no veremos los elementos más efectistas que suelen haber en el genero, porque Rohmer es excelente creando personajes que viven más por su propia humanidad y gestos de sus actores que por los propios conflictos que se les presentan. Al final para Rohmer no existen buenos ni malos en lo que es propiamente amar.

(Mu) A Rohmer summer is special season of cinema. You not only ander but take a lesson. The proverb ('don't tell too much') is thesis and theme. Pauline is as sensitive as Arielle Dombasle is a fool...

I’m not sure if Eric Rohmer (who passed away just a couple of years ago) was really well known abroad, but in France, he was always considered a major director. To be honest, I don’t think I’m really an expert in his work but I have still managed to watch a third of all his movies. Anyway, this flick is probably my favorite so far. Indeed, basically, it is a rather typical romantic tale, almost a soap opera, but the characters were very well written and actually quite fascinating to behold. I also enjoyed a lot the understated directing style by Rhomer who gave a lot of room to the actors to give life to their characters and the absence of additional background music was a nice touch as you have to make up your mind on your own about what you should feel or think. This movie was starring Amanda Langlet who was just 16 years old at the time and she would work again with Eric Rohmer in ‘Conte d’été’ which was the very first movie directed by Rohmer that I saw. ‘Conte d’été’  was a great introduction to Rohmer’s work and it was just really neat to see again this very charming actress.To conclude, I thought it was  a really a good flick, probably my favorite movie directed by Eric Rohmer and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.