Pauline at the Beach
In the lighthearted third film in Eric Rohmer's "Comedies and Proverbs"  series, 15-year-old Pauline (Amanda Langlet) gets an eye-opening lesson in the  games grown-ups play on a two-week summer vacation with her recently divorced  and ready-for-fun older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle, every inch the  vivacious blonde goddess). Smitten young Pascal Greggory turns aggressive with  jealousy when the smooth, seductive, happily shallow writer Féodor Atkine wins  the fancy of the "perfect" Marion while continuing to fool around on the side.  The tangled affairs, mistaken identities, and white lies are the stuff of sex  farce, but Rohmer is more interested in the folly of love and the impulsive,  illogical workings of human nature. He deftly crafts a gentle and sexy little  human comedy that ends with Pauline learning perhaps the right lessons after  all.--Sean Axmaker