Rating: 
Summary: Two cultures, two modes of existence
Review: A brilliant companion piece to Swimming Pool, Francois Ozon's Under the Sand similarly casts Charlotte Rampling as the lead female, here in a tale of loss. Interestingly, in both films, she has a position of someone not only literate but directly involved in literature. In Swimming Pool, she is a writer; here, she is an instructor of literature.
This is key to understanding how subtle Ozon is in these two masterful films. Parallel in both works is the fusing of fantasy and reality. In Under the Sand, Marie's (Rampling) husband disappears and her fantasy life--reinforced, it is implied, by her profession--blossoms into imagining her husband still with her, long after his disappearance, and, as well, feeling hands stroking all parts of her body in one amazing scene. More subtly, Ozon here, as in Swimming Pool, uses the mix of French and English--both language and culture--to emphasize the blurring of fantasy and reality. When Marie's best friend--like her, another bilingual English woman married to a French man--speaks to her, it is sometimes in French, sometimes in English, indicating the fluidity of thought and feeling between two modes of existence. Marie's friend sympathizes with her loss--French--but wants her to face up to the reality of what has happened and continue with her life--English.
Similarly, Marie's new lover tells her that he thinks of the English as morbid. But he is French and tells her this in French; it shows, Ozon says, that there is a desire in the French to feel deeply, contrasted with the English who desire to think deeply. Such is the implication here. Marie IS French, though born English, and it is just this fusing of the two cultures within herself that results in her confusion of fantasy and reality.
However, it would be too easy to equate French with fantasy and English with reality; Ozon does not really do this as simplistically as the above seems to indicate. Instead, he does imply this in several scenes, but as well shows us Marie telling her friend, in English, that Jean (her lost husband) is taking a nap or out for a walk when he has not been with her for a year or so. That is, Marie herself is not able to distinguish the difference in the two cultures flowing in her blood--not able to differentiate as simply as all that the difference between fantasy and reality, between thought and feeling. This is brought to a head in the great ending sequence, not revealed here, in which Jean is, perhaps, not lost after all. Or is he?
Ozon is a superbly intelligent filmmaker who closely investigates what and how we think and feel, delicately exposing the nuances of behavior and how they determine who we really are. The subtlety shown in his work is truly astonishing and marks him as one of the great French directors working today.
Rating:
Summary: Never Underestimate The Power Of Denial...
Review: a married couple of 25 years goes on a vacation. one day at the beach, the husband decides to go for a swim.only he doesn't return. and so begins " under the sand, " a tale about a woman who spends the the length of the movie wondering if he is dead or alive. she also tries to deal with her grief. she wonders if she was the reason for his dissapearance. marie, played by charlotte rampling, gives a riveting performance of a woman who cloaks herself in denial to the point that she keeps her husband alive, even as the signs become obvious that he is dead. francois ozon's narrative is straightforward, though with the prescence of bruno cremer as jean, marie's late husband, in later scenes, one might suspect the narrative is nonlinear,bringing anxiety and tension to the story. marie does her best to move on. even becoming involved with another man but her husband still haunts her-literally. one scene shows her with her lover as her late husband watches on, giving it an eerie feeling. this film is a perfect testimony about the hold a person can have on another, even when they are no longer around...
Rating:
Summary: Never Underestimate The Power Of Denial...
Review: a married couple of 25 years goes on a vacation. one day at the beach, the husband decides to go for a swim. only he doesn't return. and so begins " under the sand, " a tale about a woman who spends the the length of the movie wondering if he is dead or alive. she also tries to deal with her grief. she wonders if she was the reason for his dissapearance. marie, played by charlotte rampling, gives a riveting performance of a woman who cloaks herself in denial to the point that she keeps her husband alive, even as the signs become obvious that he is dead. francois ozon's narrative is straightforward, though with the prescence of bruno cremer as jean, marie's late husband, in later scenes, one might suspect the narrative is nonlinear,bringing anxiety and tension to the story. marie does her best to move on. even becoming involved with another man but her husband still haunts her-literally. one scene shows her with her lover as her late husband watches on, giving it an eerie feeling. this film is a perfect testimony about the hold a person can have on another, even when they are no longer around...
Rating:
Summary: ......... and God created Charlotte!
Review: AND Thank God for creating this lovely creature! She's quite, quite timeless and always the epitome of excellent taste, manner and beauty. This time she's the wife - the [better?] half of a middle-aged marriage, a couple still very much in love on vacation - spending time at the beach, but then he disappears - completely, and we're not quite sure if he will be found, or if he is found ...... a sinister journey ..... It asks the question - How long can we remember the Dead? Can we really recall the voice, the smell, the intimate touches shared? AND if we do - how long can we hold this memory? No, it's not 'Donna Flor and her Two Husbands' [or for that matter the odd remake with Sally Field]. This one's so real and Miss Rampling under the expert hands of director Francois Ozon pulls us through this hall of crackling mirrors. It's Euridice searching for Orpheus, or is it? Not wanting to betray more of this odyssey, it's best to snuggle up on the couch on a rainy day, alone, [small fire blazing in the hearth, waves crashing outside, small sherry, dry], and watch this story unfold. A profound journey, hypnotic, AND somewhat of a 6th sense ending - maybe .......... that's up to the viewer! More Miss Rampling, please!
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes the death leaves no traces!
Review: Charlotte Rampling as always gives a perfect and subtle portrait of heavy weight emotional depth under the masterful direction of Francis Ozon .
In this enigmatic and poignat film an apparently happy married woman . Suddenly in the inscrutable sea his husband vanishes mysteriously while she is sleeping under the warmth sun . The treatment stands far from the soap melodrama and focuses in the affective readjustment and her visible efforts to restitute a new life with a new relationship leaving behind her this personal tragedy and the past ghosts.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart, Poignant View of Grieving
Review: Charlotte Rampling gives a fantastic performance in this slow, but elegantly portrayed film of a woman's grief over the disappearance of her husband on a holiday to the seaside. Her manner of self assured optimism in the face the loss of her husband is deeply moving in its strident motives of self-deception. The long shots of Rampling contemplating the empty space of her apartment and the unexpected appearance of her husband leave the viewer gripped in anticipation of whether or not her fabricated reality will continue or shatter around her feet. Most fitfully, her character is a lecturer on fiction and is discussing with her students Virginia Woolf's 'The Waves.' This is an interesting reference to Woolf's great experimental novel dealing with ageing, loss and the timorous bonds between individuals. Rampling's character inhabits the struggle with dealing with these elements in life and embodies a contradiction in their acceptance that cannot be reconciled. What this film captures so elegantly are the physical touches and familiar routines of a long-term love. The habit of her love for her husband is represented in her movements and the interaction she has with her husband's "ghost" or "shadow." The end, purposely and rightfully, does not give away whether or not her denial over her husband's death will be accepted or eternally refused. This is a haunting, delicately beautiful film.
Rating:
Summary: Missing: Beautiful Charlotte Rampling's Portrayal of a Woman
Review: Francis Ozon, then 33-year-old French male, directed this film starring English muse Charlotte Rampling whose debut goes back in 'Knack,' in 1965. It's an incredible combination, but more incredible is the fact that 'Under the Sand' handles the sexuality of women so beautifully and honestly.
The story, which is based on Ozon's own childhood memory, starts with a married couple Marie (Rampling) and Jean (Bruno Cremer). As soon you know, they have been husband and wife for a long time, their relations being a happy one. From Paris where they live, they come to a small seaside resort where they own a cottage, and are going to spend some quiet time there.
But something happens. While sleeping on the sand, Marie realizes Jean is missing, and can see no trace of what happened to him. Gradually becoming desperate, Marie askes for the rescue team of the town, but not a thing can be found that indicates his whereabout.
The film then centers Marie teaching Virgina Wolfe in Paris. The life goes on, but she find it hard to see and accept the reality, in spite of a new male friend coming to her room. She still feels Jean's presence, his voice, and his body, and 'Under the Sand' tenderly but unflinchingly follows the journey of Marie, who must eventually see the truths about her love.
This is not a suspense film (though the truths behind the missing Jean is tantalizingly revealed); it's about the woman Marie, and her strong responce refusing to see the unavoidable truths about the people near her. Also the film successfully deals with the delicate matter of sexuality of middle-aged women openly. One of the scenes includes the nudity of Rampling herself (no body double), but that is not gratuitous, thanks to the deft direction of Ozon, and most of all, Rampling, born in 1946, is still so beautiful.
'Under the Sand' is about this woman Marie, or Charlotte Rampling herself, always mature, intelligent, and seductive. In a sense, this is better than Ozon's later works like more famous 'Swimming Pool' in presenting more substantial character.
If you like Charlotte Rampling, try to find her guest appearance in one episode 'The Superlative Seven' in British cult TV series 'Agengers '67.' She played, most unbelieblavly, a gunslinger.
Rating:
Summary: O.M.G WHAT A FILM
Review: I STILL CAN'T SHAKE THIS MOVIE..... IT HAS MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION ON ME... BOTH THE STORY AND THE ACTING ARE A***** WHY THIS FILM WAS NOT MENTIONED FOR AWARDS I WILL NEVER KNOW.. IT IS SOMETHING THAT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER.... IT IS GREAT, SEE IT, RENT IT, BUY IT,STEAL IT (JUST KIDDING)BUT JUST SEE IT..
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: Marie (Charlotte Rampling) and her husband, Jean arrive at their summer home for their annual holiday. As they re-open the house and prepare meals, they move about their tasks almost wordlessly. Their relationship is clearly strong, and there is an atmosphere of contentment. They obviously love each other and revel in each other's company. The next day, they go to the beach. After massaging oil onto Marie's back, Jean tells his wife he is going for a swim. She sleepily adds that she will take a nap, and she does. Jean never returns, and his body is not found. Marie returns to her teaching job in the city. Marie cannot accept the idea that her husband may be dead, so she doesn't. She has conversations with him, rushes home to be with him, and even shyly admits that she may date Vincent, a man her friends think would be good for her. She talks of Jean in the present tense, and her acquaintances seem unable to confront her about this. Charlotte Rampling is a wonderful and much under-appreciated actress. She is amazing in the role of Marie--a woman who finds the truth simply too difficult to bear, and yet on the surface she appears to have remarkable self-restraint. Keep your eyes open for Marie's mother-in-law. She should get the Mother-in-Law of the Year Award!
Rating:
Summary: Truly amazing...
Review: Superb acting. Charlotte Rampling is amazing as always. Very realistic portraying of people unable to accept reality of the loss... Emotional and realistic, this movie will make you think about it for days after.
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