Under the Sand (2000)

The plot is simple, almost too simple, and because very little happens, it depends on mood and deeply serious thinking about death to survive. And on Charlotte Rampling to have the nuance and range to pull it off.

And it works, overall, because of just those two things: heavy subject and Rampling. There are issues (and tricks, cinematically) with ghosts and memories, but these play small against the bigger strain of the lead woman dealing with this sudden trauma in her life. Even though the main event in the movie happens at the start, I don't dare mention it because its surprise is important (I didn't know it was coming, and liked the way it was handled very much).

Director Francois Ozon never seems to quite nail down the pace and editing of his films, at least for American sensibilities. Even the sensationally complex Swimming Pool doesn't quite use its material to propel us in every scene. But let's turn that on its head and say that Ozon uses emptiness and gaps in the action to give his movies breathing room, or maybe, in some old fashioned sense, the make them serious. When nothing is "happening" you can only start to think and dwell on the events, along with the characters. In Under the Sand there is nothing else to do and yet it's exactly what Rampling in her role has to do: think and dwell. It's slow at times, yes, but only if you don't let yourself relax and get absorbed.

And, like the character, confuse what is real from what is chimera, and what she needs with what she once had, and even one man from another. Even her fluid bi-lingual abilities add to the duality. By the time you get to the final scene you are left wondering what true love really is, and whether it's worth it. Because maybe it is. She has something most people do not, and it seems like a sickness and a gift at once.

An elderly couple goes on a seaside vacation. While at the beach, the husband disappears. His wife Marie Drillon (Charlotte Rampling) struggles to deal with the situation.

Charlotte Rampling is doing her normal great work. It's a slow long burn but she maintains my interest. It's all her. Her greatness is never in doubt.

Very often, French films go places you'd never see Hollywood go. In "Under the Sand", you have a middle-aged leading lady, a very slow and deliberate pace as well as a very vague ending...all things you'd never see in a Hollywood movie. Because of this, it's not a film for everyone...but one for folks who appreciate such things. As for me, I love French films but I found this one a bit less fulfilling than normal.

When the story begins, Jean and Marie (Charlotte Rampling) go to the beach for a vacation. While Marie is relaxing on the sand, Jean says he's going for a swim. However, when Marie later goes looking for him, he's gone. Most likely he's drowned but exactly what his fate is, the film never clearly states. Much of the film consists of showing how Marie deals with her husband's death...or, more appropriately, how she refuses to deal with it or accept it. In fact, she even pretends to herself that he's still there and talks about him as if he returned long, long ago...safe and sound.

The idea of a mentally scarred and ill woman refusing to deal with death is an interesting, though not exactly pleasant one. But for me the reason this film only gets a 6 is that too many things are left dangling late in the film...far too much. As a result, it left me feeling a bit cheated. I did NOT neat a neat Hollywood ending but all the fine acting was undone by the rather unconventional script. See the film and see what I mean. An interesting experiment but a picture I didn't love.

FYI--There's a fair amount of nudity in this one--something you might just want to be aware of if you're thinking of watching it. Interestingly, much of it is of Rampling who looks amazing for a middle-aged lady.