Pauline at the Beach

Pauline at the Beach is a 1983 French romantic comedy film directed by Éric Rohmer. The film stars Amanda Langlet, Arielle Dombasle, Pascal Greggory and Féodor Atkine. It is the third in the 1980s series "Comedies and Proverbs" by Rohmer. Plot A car pulls up in front of a wooden gate. Teenage Pauline (Amanda Langlet) gets out of the car to open the gate to allow her older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle) to drive inside their family's vacation home, on the north-western coast of France. As the girls settle into their trip, Marion quizzes Pauline on her love life and Pauline confesses that she has not had any serious affairs of the heart. On the beach, Marion spies her ex-lover Pierre (Pascal Greggory). As they are getting reacquainted, a man named Henri (Féodor Atkine) approaches and scolds Pierre for abandoning their windsurfing lessons. The quartet agree to have dinner together. Afterwards, they each talk briefly about their ideas of love in Henri's living room. Henri is happy to be free from any serious commitments, as he travels the world as an ethnographer. Marion wants to fall passionately in love at first sight and she regrets her failed marriage to a man that she did not really love. Pierre is more cautious and feels that love cannot form in an instant. Pauline listens quietly throughout and confesses that she agrees most of all with Pierre's idea of love but that she has learned a lot from listening to all of them. Henri suggests that they go dancing at a nearby casino. At the casino, Pierre confesses that his love for Marion has been reignited by seeing her again. She does not want to resume a relationship with Pierre, due to his jealous nature. Instead, she chooses to sleep with Henri.