What it’s about
Art dealer Adrien (Bauchau) and his painter friend Daniel (Pommereulle) vacation at a friend’s Saint Tropez villa but are surprised to find another guest is also spending the summer there. Haydée (Politoff), a young student, lounges around in her bikini, going out at night and bringing various boyfriends home. Adrien vacillates between sexual attraction for her and scorn at her youthful insouciance.
Why we love it
The third film in Rohmer’s “Moral Tales” series is populated with non-professional actors and shot on location with a warm, natural beauty by Nestor Almendros. The improvisational tone lends the film an airy, casual ambiance that belies the deeper currents of sexual politics at work. First person narration from the caddish Adrien guides us along this thorny path of repressed longing in this award-winning study of the male ego.