Cousin Cousine

Cousin Cousine is a 1975 French romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella and starring Marie-Christine Barrault, Victor Lanoux, and Marie-France Pisier. Written by Tacchella and Danièle Thompson, the film is about two cousins by marriage who meet at a wedding and develop a close friendship. After their spouses prove unfaithful, the cousins' friendship leads to a passionate love affair. Cousin Cousine received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, a César Award nomination for Best Film, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and the U.S. National Board of Review Award as one of the Top 5 Foreign Films of the Year. In 1989, an English-language remake was released, Cousins. Plot Two cousins related by marriage, Marthe and Ludovic, meet at a family wedding for the first time. Marthe is the bride's daughter and Ludovic is the groom's nephew. After a raucous wedding reception with plenty of dancing and drinking, Marthe and Ludovic are left waiting for their respective spouses, Pascal and Karine, who are off having sex. While they wait, they get to know each other: Marthe is a secretary, and Ludovic is a dance instructor who changes his occupation every three years. Later, they dance together. Eventually, Pascal and Karine show up, slightly disheveled, and the couples part. Ludovic meets Marthe for lunch and tells her that her husband is having an affair with his wife. Later, Pascal informs her that he has broken off all of his affairs and that, from now on, she will be the only one. When Marthe tells him she knows about Karine, he says he only had her "three times in the bushes". Sometime later at a family gathering at Marthe's mother's house, Ludovic's daughter, Nelsa, shows slides she took at the wedding—including compromising photos of Pascal and Karine. During the slide show, Marthe's mother's new husband dies. At the funeral, Ludovic's father arrives and extends his condolences; he too lost his spouse recently. On the way back from the cemetery, Marthe and Ludovic get better acquainted, with Marthe revealing that she enjoys swimming and singing.