Le beau mariage [A Good Marriage] **** (1982, Béatrice Romand, André Dussollier, Féodor Atkine) – Classic Movie Review 9459

Writer-director Eric Rohmer’s highly stylish and diverting Comedy and Proverb character study, ideas picture and talk scenario centres on a French 1920s art student (Béatrice Romand), Sabine, who looks for an ideal love, or, in the absence of that, a good marriage, Le beau mariage of the title.

So she abandons her latest affair with a married man, Simon (Féodor Atkine), vowing to give up married lovers and determined to get married to a good husband.

Her best friend Clarisse (Arielle Dombasle) introduces Sabine to her cousin Edmond, a busy Paris lawyer, (André Dussollier), who, unfortunately, is not at all sure of entering into marriage.

Le beau mariage [A Good Marriage] (1982) has spot-on naturalistic acting, clever dialogue and extremely atmospheric Le Mans locales. Rohmer handles it all exquisitely. This episode in Rohmer’s Comédies et Proverbes cycle is one of his most appealing movies.

Star Romand won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival in 1982. She is also in Rohmer’s Claire’s Knee (1970) and Autumn Tale (1998).

Also in the cast are Huguette Faget, Thamila Mezbah, Sophie Renoir, Hervé Duhamel, Pascal Greggory, Virginie Thévenet, Denise Bailly and Vincent Gauthier.

Le beau mariage [A Good Marriage] is directed by Eric Rohmer, runs 97 minutes, is made by Les Films du Losange and Les Films du Carrosse, is released by United Artists, is written by Eric Rohmer, is shot by Bernard Lutic, is produced by Margaret Ménégoz and is scored by Ronan Girre and Simon des Innocents.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9459

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