A Summer's Tale

One of Rohmer's best. Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) takes a month long vacation to a beach in Normandy, waiting for his more or less official girlfriend, the somewhat snotty Lena (Aurelia Nolin), to come. While waiting for her, he befriends the waitress and aspiring anthropologist Margot (Rohmer regular Amanda Langlet). Eventually, a relationship between the two develops, which seems to consists almost exclusively of long talks in the beach. But this is not all, since he soon also meets the somewhat promiscuous (but "principled") Solene (Gwaenelle Simon) in a disco. When Lena finally arrives to the resort, more than halfway into the movie, he finally finds himself in the position of having to choose one of the three. Rohmer would want us to think that Margot would be the best choice, and is difficult to disagree, since she's so charming and so willing to listen to him and even put up with him. It's amazing how Rohmer (who was in his late 70s when he directed this) is able to portray realistically how young people talk and interact. The final decision by Gaspard was a bit of a disappointment, but it was probably the more realistic possibility.

I'd say this film is an essay, regarding shyness, relations with the opposite sex, friendship and love. Being only based on the dialogues between different people, it's full of substance, and will definitely ask the viewer to think on the matter. I liked it so much because the people were real, the problem was real. Lots of people suffer problems of integration and self-achievement next to others and these have been thoroughly dealt with in the film.

Its main problems are how much is worth a summer romance next to a sincere friendship, and the importance of knowing exactly one's feelings and purposes (do I love her, or do I not ? Am I merely trying to have fun?).

In the end, we are faced with a line addressed to the main character that we can take for ourselves: "it was your own choice, think about it".

That's the main message: the director presents a problem, the dialogues delve deeply in several of its aspects but the conclusion of why things turned out as they did is left to us. In short, the viewer will certainly learn something from it, and that can even lead to deeper self-reflections on one's personal life. A valuable film, and an interesting lesson. Especially good for young people afraid of not finding that special one.

Gaspard, played by Melvil Poupaud, is a song writer, a good-looking but

dull young man, a gauche loner with a flat voice and an inexpressive

face who comes to this delightful holiday island of Dinard off the

Brittany coast to await the arrival of his `sort-of' girl friend, who

demonstrates how much she loves him by keeping him waiting for two

weeks. During those two weeks, however, he finds two other girl friends

• or rather they find him. It must be his good-looks, it can't be

anything else. First he is picked up in a restaurant by Margot, a

waitress, who turns out not to be a waitress but an Ethnologist, just

helping out her aunt who owns the restaurant. Obviously such a bright

and intelligent girl could not be merely working-class!

Amanda Langlet, who plays Margot and who appeared ten years earlier in

Rohmer's `Pauline at the Beach.' is clearly the star of this film. Much

of the enjoyment of the film is derived from being in the company of

this vivacious girl and being allowed to eavesdrop on her talk with

Gaspard about love and relationships as they roam in the bright sunlight

around this lovely French sea-side resort and the countryside beyond.

She is such a very warm and sympathetic listener that it is difficult to

understand why he doesn't fall in love with her. Why she doesn't fall in

love with him is easier to understand. (you ask yourself; is this man a

very good actor or a very bad one?) He makes a couple of inept attempts

to move the relationship forward but is repulsed; she wants only

friendship - and you feel he is lucky to get that - while she awaits the

return of her Anthropologist boy-friend who is away in South America.

Gaspard's dullness is made obvious when she takes him to hear an old

sailor sing sea-shanties; her face so eager and enrapt as she listens

intently; his face, alongside, so lifeless.

She encourages him to take up with Solene, played by Gwenaelle Simon in

her first film, a friend of her's who they meet at a dance, but when he

does, she is jealous, jealous of their friendship she says but secretly

hurt that he now thinks of her as only a friend.

His relationship with Solene seems idyllic at first, they seem

marvelously happy and well suited to each other. He is accepted warmly

into her family, they all go sailing together and have a merry

sing-a-long to one of his songs. But then, sadly, her true nature shows;

she becomes aggressive and demanding, insisting that he take her to the

island of Quessant or their relationship is at an end. And now Lena, his

`sort-of' girl friend, played by Aurelia Nolin, appears and insists that

he take her instead. He must now choose.

Rohmer's films are never plot-dependent; he prefers to dwell on the

characters, to bring us into a close, intimate relation with them, while

they reveal themselves in talk. And when the characters are as

attractive as Margot

A lovely little summer's love story. One guy, three girls, a stunning French coastal setting. He is in love, of course. With one of them? Two? All three? Himself?

It might not sound like much, but this movie is perfectly balanced. The illusion is flawless, with direction, photo, sound, everything so gentle that nothing intrudes on your enjoyment. And the actors are perfectly natural with the material. Excellent dialogue.

I especially like how fluid the presentation of Gaspard is. It keeps changing throughout the movie. We think we know who he is, what kind of person he is, and then we realize he's something else, different.

Also, the ending, great.

Overall, a beautiful little gem that also manages to pose a barrage of questions about love, without ever telling the audience what to think.

I need to watch more Rohmer movies.

It often goes unstressed how difficult it is to craft a simple, crisp and minimal output as opposed to something complicated. Rhomer deceives you with the simplicity of the visual framework he uses and lets you into this intricate world of human relationships. I wouldn't go into the characters and story (Already in the description). The story is set in Brittany region and specifically the town of Dinard. Like in any Rohmer film, you see abundance of natural ambience and lack of any music. The central character is a musician and a confused lover, who goes through a series of situations that would help him in a way rediscover himself. The most interesting character is Margot (Amanda Langlet) but I also found the presence of Solène( Gwenaëlle Simon) mesmerizing. These two characters somewhat set the two extremes where Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) travels to and fro, throughout the film while being anchored to a third woman, Lèna. Each scene dwells deep into these three women characters and their relationships with Gaspard with their subtle gestures and deeply felt emotions. If you look closely at these characters you can see a lot more going on than the words they exchange. In many ways, Rohmer is a lot like Yasujiro Ozu, who also tells complex human stories with his trademark minimalism. I would highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates poetic, visually stunning films on human relationships. You needn't be a romantic for it. A definite 8/10 from me.