Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1971 • France
Starring Caroline Cartier, Françoise Guégan, Danièle Croisy
In early September, three young Parisians—Caroline (Caroline Cartier), her cousin Kareen (Françoise Guégan), and Joëlle (Danièle Croisy)—travel to the sparsely populated shorefront town of Orouët for a carefree holiday. At the house of Caroline’s mother, the trio soon take in Joëlle’s boss Gilbert (Bernard Ménez), and romantic complications inevitably ensue: ever the schlemiel, Gilbert suffers subtle humiliations at the women’s hands in order to remain close to Joëlle, his crush, while Joëlle develops feelings for Patrick (Patrick Verde), a handsome, sporty neighbor who in turn flirts with Kareen. Jacques Rozier constructs his love triangle (or, rather, square) without an ounce of melodrama, focusing as much on the vacation’s languorous atmosphere—and its giddy effect on the friends’ inside jokes and childish slapstick—as on the slow-burn plot. Perfectly capturing both the liberating promise and the melancholic effervescence of summer, NEAR OROUËT is a minor masterpiece of the post–New Wave era and a beautiful meditation on the fleeting nature of youth, love, and time.
Up Next in Directed by Jacques Rozier
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The Castaways of Turtle Island
Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1976 • France
Starring Pierre Richard, Maurice Risch, Jacques VilleretHaving set his first two features on seaside holidays, Jacques Rozier used the third, THE CASTAWAYS OF TURTLE ISLAND, to mock the tourist industry and the “going native” movement that was then inc...
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Maine-Océan Express
Directed by Jacques Rozier • 1986 • France
Starring Bernard Ménez, Yves Afonso, Luis RegoBy land, by sea, by air . . . In Jacques Rozier’s quirkiest comedy, a Brazilian dancer’s (Rosa-Maria Gomes) invalid train ticket for a journey from Paris to Saint-Nazaire sparks a shaggy-dog story that enco...
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Fifi Martingale
Directed by Jacques Rozier • 2001 • France
Starring Jean Lefebvre, Lili Vonderfeld, Yves AfonsoJacques Rozier’s final film is a joyful compendium of his major themes and strategies as well as one of the funniest depictions of the theater ever committed to celluloid. When a director (Mike Marsha...
