Rating: 
Summary: A Comedy of Romantic Jostling at the Beach
Review: "Pauline at the Beach" is a fun comedy of errors set along the beaches of western Normandy in the early 1980s.Pauline (played by Amanda Langlet) is a fifteen-year old spending part of her summer vacation with her gorgeous, divorced cousin Marion (played by Arielle Dombasle) at a home loaned by Marion's brother. Pauline wants to make friends and has never been in love before. Marion believes love erupts passionately and spontaneously. Both are in for adventures. Graduate student Pierre (played by Pascal Greggory) still carries a torch for Marion from the days before she married five years ago. Meanwhile, he wants to teach Pauline and Marion wind surfing. Divorced ethnologist Henri (played by Feodor Atkine) shows up and attracts Marion. Sylvain (played by Simon de La Brosse) is a local guy Pauline's age who takes an interest in her. There is a strolling vendor of peanuts and candy, Louisette, who is extra friendly with Henri, but is there a connection with Sylvain too? Just how well do you have to know someone before falling in love? All the makings of conflict and misunderstanding are there. Both Pauline and Marion learn to manage their interpretations and feelings. The movie moves along nicely, although there are some reasonably interesting stops for discussion of the values and expectations of falling in love. The actors all do a good job, especially Dombasle and de La Brosse. Marion and Louisette have nude scenes; all characters have bathing suit scenes. The photography and direction are fine. The main negative is the lack of a commentary track or other features, other than the original trailer and a few other MGM trailers. There is no paper insert with chapter titles. The movie is in monaural French with optional English, French, or Spanish subtitles.
Rating: 
Summary: Very frightening censorship! Has '1984' already happened?
Review: 'Wag the dog' was a film that everybody thought was just another comedy, more or less. This edition of 'Pauline at the Beach' may make some people think otherwise (provided they read this review).
Towards the end of the first quarter of the film, Pauline wanders around the house and steps up to a window and peeks in. There she sees her older female friend lying stark naked in the arms of a man Pauline also knows. You see a full frontal nudity in the film here - that is, if you saw the film when it premiered in Europe, as I did.
On this DVD however, you will see a blanket covering the lower halves of the bodies, taking away all the impact of the scene. Now, that would not be so terrible if the cover-up was obvious. It would still be sad because of the censorship, but it would not be so frigtening as this is: BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY OF TELLING THAT THERE IS A CENSORSHIP HERE! The blanket fits perfectly into the picture and had I not remembered this scene in particular ..... , I would never have suspected any foul play here.
The film is not without interest anyway and, low and behold, there is another full frontal in it - so why did thet cover up this one. Did some rich and influential american mary the actress in question or what is goin on.
Other censorship, like the omitting of a very funny nude scene in 'There was a Crooked Man (with H. Fonda and K. Douglas)', in which the riot scene when the convicts brake out from the wall of the prison and chases the society woman, whom the have stripped (off-screen) and who, by now, is nude and fleeing - everything filmed from far away as not to be speculative but still possible to make out - when such a scene is just cut out of the film, you still know what's going on somehow. But this is something quite different! It's really exceptionally foul play.
I shudder at what will be happening in the future. .....
Rating: 
Summary: Bravo MGM!
Review: An absolutely perfect job. The pristine transfer shows this film in a comepletely new light. The colors are vibrant, lending a real "summer" feel to the movie. There is not a hint of dirt or damage to the film. It looks like a new transfer was struck for this DVD. You have the choice of English, French, and Spanish subtitles which could also be shut off completely if desired. After many poor DVD transfers of Rohmer films, we finally have one that is worthy of such a fine director. Let's hope his other titles eventually get this same treatment.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo MGM!
Review: An absolutely perfect job. The pristine transfer shows this film in a comepletely new light. The colors are vibrant, lending a real "summer" feel to the movie. There is not a hint of dirt or damage to the film. It looks like a new transfer was struck for this DVD. You have the choice of English, French, and Spanish subtitles which could also be shut off completely if desired. After many poor DVD transfers of Rohmer films, we finally have one that is worthy of such a fine director. Let's hope his other titles eventually get this same treatment.
Rating:
Summary: "I stayed true to my desire."
Review: Fifteen-year-old Pauline (Amanda Langlet) is on holiday on the Normandy coast with her gorgeous, older, soon-to-be divorced cousin, Marion (Arielle Dombasle). On the first day of their holiday, they run into Pierre (Pascal Greggory), an old flame of Marion's. Just as Pierre digests the fact that the delectable Marion is once again up-for-grabs, an acquaintance, Henri (Feodor Atkine), who owns a house on the beach, scoops Marion up, and indulges in a relationship with her. Marion is so vain and shallow, she can't for a moment contemplate the awful truth--Henri is just having a fling. Henri is a world-weary roue who takes opportunities as he finds them. Pierre sees this, but his objections to Marion's relationship are considered self-interested, and Marion's vanity won't allow her to see beyond the delicious idea that two men are madly in love with her. Pauline also begins a summer romance with a young boy she meets on the beach. While Marion believes in wild, passionate love-at-first sight, Pauline's more serious and principled nature dictates that she must know a person before treading into a relationship. The foibles of the older characters, Henri, Pierre and Marion, are played in contrast to Pauline's steady, rock-solid common sense. Pauline learns some lessons in love--but as an observer, and ultimately Pauline's newfound knowledge and experience must take a backseat to Marion's determined and one-sided perceptions of the world. Fans of Rohmer films should delight in "Pauline at the Beach", for the film is yet another fascinating tale. The film offers plenty of insightful dialogue as the story dissects the characters of those involved in the drama. When it comes to dialogue, I don't think there's a director who can match Rohmer for realism. There's one scene, in particular, when the characters exchange their philosophical theories about love--on another level, Marion, Henri, and Pierre are subtly marking out the territorial zones between each other. All of the acting is quite superb. "Pauline at the Beach" is one of the films in Eric Rohmer's Comedies and Proverbs series. It's not necessary to watch the other films in the series in order to understand and appreciate this film--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: Pauline Plus Fun
Review: One of my favorite past-times is watching foreign films, especially French films. This past weekend while waiting for the late play-off game, I ran across "Pauline At The Beach". It was on HBO or ShowTime, which is really not important. The movie is filmed somewhere in France along a wonderful beach. The characters are all well played, the story line is well written and I think it was a fun movie. If you do not like nudity or sub-titles, can't stand the French, hate wine, well, better you should choose another movie. If you like movies with a little depth, check it out.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Pauline
Review: Pauline at the Beach is a charming, funny and wise film from Eric Rohmer. It is the story of pretty teenager Pauline who is staying with her older cousin Marion on the French coast. In the course of this holiday they interact with three men, which leads to romance for both of them and to various complications. The story is engaging, with fully developed believable characters. The acting is superb, especially that of Amanda Langlet as Pauline. Rohmer shows once more that he remains in tune with youth and can direct a performance from a teenager better than most. The film is part of Rohmer's comedies and proverbs series, which makes it a pity that the film's proverb by Chretien de Troyes is left untranslated on the DVD. This proverb ("Qui trop parole, il se mesfait") means roughly that he who talks too much damages himself. This is an interesting comment on the film, both in terms of what happens and in terms of Rohmer's style of filmmaking. As in all Rohmer films there is a lot of talk with characters endlessly discussing the nature of love and their relationships. Rohmer seems to be saying that it is this talk which leads to the problems they encounter, for by intellectualising they fail to talk honestly and directly. Rohmer is not for everyone. Even fans of French film may find his films difficult. But he is a director who is well worth getting to know and Pauline at the Beach is a very good introduction to his work. It is light and beautiful to look at with stunning photography of French beaches. This is a fine DVD with a good print shown in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The sound is clear and audible and the dialogue, as far as I could tell, is translated well. For those with better French than mine, the subtitles are removable. The only extra is a trailer without subtitles. For Rohmer fans this DVD is essential, for those who have yet to discover him, my advice is to give Pauline a try.
Rating:
Summary: A flirtatious philosophy discussion of love...
Review: Pauline at the Beach is exactly what the title suggests as it depicts the end of the 15-year-old Pauline's summer vacation. Pauline spends her time with her older cousin Marion, a stunningly attractive woman, who is in the middle of a divorce. Marion is getting away form her husband by staying at Pauline's parents summer home as she is candidly displaying her body and seeking attention from men. Pauline is a curious teenager that seeks love and what it all means as she innocently discovers the different shades of love at the French-Atlantic coast. Eric Rohmer wrote and created a flirtatious drama in Pauline at the Beach, which in all essence is a philosophical discussion of love. The discussion is apparent as the dialogues in the story generate the driving fundamental theme, love, which is submerged in all conversations in the film. Under Rohmer's direction the cinematic debate becomes an enlightening experience as it displays several different angles of how love is either reciprocal or one-sided. Through these insights of experience of love Pauline at the Beach offers a delightful and intriguing cinematic experience.
Rating:
Summary: A flirtatious philosophy discussion of love...
Review: Pauline at the Beach is exactly what the title suggests as it depicts the end of the 15-year-old Pauline's summer vacation. Pauline spends her time with her older cousin Marion, a stunningly attractive woman, who is in the middle of a divorce. Marion is getting away form her husband by staying at Pauline's parents summer home as she is candidly displaying her body and seeking attention from men. Pauline is a curious teenager that seeks love and what it all means as she innocently discovers the different shades of love at the French-Atlantic coast. Eric Rohmer wrote and created a flirtatious drama in Pauline at the Beach, which in all essence is a philosophical discussion of love. The discussion is apparent as the dialogues in the story generate the driving fundamental theme, love, which is submerged in all conversations in the film. Under Rohmer's direction the cinematic debate becomes an enlightening experience as it displays several different angles of how love is either reciprocal or one-sided. Through these insights of experience of love Pauline at the Beach offers a delightful and intriguing cinematic experience.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this movie...
Review: Rare is a movie where you can get into the head of a character who acts like a real person. I would love to find more movies like this. This movie is about a teenager and her adult cousin who vacation at the beach, and about the people they meet and relationships they form. And for those who did enjoy this movie, check out "A Summer's Tale". You will be able to see Pauline (the teenager in this movie) 13 years older. Rohmer is a fantastic director who looks at people, and lets them display their humanity. I highly reccomend this movie for people of any age who are interested in the interpersonal dynamics between people. I also reccomend this movie because it stands up to repeated veiwings. With each additional viewing, more can be discovered about the characters.
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