Le beau mariage

Witty/romantic comedy. Headstrong/out-spoken Sabine (Béatrice Romand), working on her thesis in Art History, has tired of affairs with married men, such as Simon (Féodor Atkine). Playing Cupid, her confidante Clarisse (Arielle Dombasle) introduces her lawyer cousin Edmond (André Dusollier) to Sabine. Encouraged by Clarisse, Sabine impetuously decides that she will marry Edmond and tells her mother (Thamila Megrah) and sister Lise (Sophie Renoir). When confronted by Sabine, Edmond resorts to an astonishing/glib double-talk to explain why he is not ready for matrimony.

Béatrice Romand was the delightful/ talkative teen ager in ‘71 Claire's Knee, and commitment-shy widow in '98 Autumn Tale; Dusollier, in the whimsical '75 And Now My Love. Arielle Dombasle has appeared in many films, starting as a seductive beauty. Féodor Atkine played a somewhat slimy character in '83 Pauline on the Beach.

eric rohmer's films are so clearly his. The slow but deliberate pacing and crisp, to-the-point dialogue are two hallmarks of his style for me, and this film is an excellent example of those two qualities.

As with the other rohmer films I have seen, the characters are less individual, specific personalities than they are vessels for a type of person or for one side of an argument. Here we have the two female leads almost skipping exposition entirely, and going straight into philosophical discussions of love and marriage. What I like about monsieur rohmer is that he manages to do this without taking away all our empathy for his characters. He always shows us how the character's hands are played out, so we can see what the result of their actions were, and think about what we would have done, or will do in our lives. tres bien, monsieur rohmer; j'adore vos travails.

The contradiction between traditional and modern, intellectual and emotional. Everyone governs themselves with philosophy but reveals themselves more deeply in the minute details of expression. A momentary pause or a botched smile illustrates volumes of character.

I'm a fan of the hushed qualities which are Rohmer's style. I admire the seamless flow between scenes in this film, between Paris, Le mans, the atelier, the train and her mothers house. Noteworthy is the almost complete lack of music as with many of his films, however there is a poignant somewhat outdated 80's electronic tune that runs in the beginning, the credits and at the party.

I found myself a little less hooked emotionally with this film then with 'Le Rayon Vert', 'Pauline a la Plage, and 'L'ami de Mon Amie'. When I watched those films I was really pulled at the heart strings by the plight of some of the characters.

What was different with this film? Well on the contrary to what others have wrote here I didn't find the leading actress Beatrice Romand to be nearly as compelling as Rohmer's other leads. I think she took the idea of a head strong young woman a little too far, ie; marching around like a bulldog for half the film, seemingly bursting in and out where ever she went. I think she could have played the head-strong role with a bit more subtlety. However at the scene of her party and in one of the final scenes in an office she played the role divinely. Particularly at the party there is a sense of tension which is unexplainable which she radiates.

As a big fan of Rohmer and comparing with his other works I give this film a 7. This film for someone who has not experienced a Rohmer film will be like an almigthy gob smack. You will see with the simplest elements and without manipulation he is able to create a sense of compassion for the characters and tension with a slight pacing that resembles real life.

Rohmer likes his morals and the moral for me here is how moving from one stage in life to another can't be forced. We can't decide to be in a different 'place' in life on a whim, without doing the maturing first. There's no short-cut. The cringeworthy party scene is perhaps the telling scene. Not just because of Sabine's inability to crawl out from childish ways, but equally Edmond's inability to cast his mind back to a time when he was giddy and foolish and work didn't matter. The supporting cast - friend Claude, Mother and the antiques dealer all have wisdom that comes through experience, but they know better than to waste too much breath with logic that headstrong Sabine is not ready for. A rites of passage, "find-out-the-hard-way" movie that's not as slight as first glances might suggest.