A day at the beach

Jacques Gamblin and Sandrine Bonnaire, Au coeur du mensonge


Benoît Magimel and Laura Smet, La Demoiselle d'honneur


Benoît Magimel and Mélanie Doutey, La Fleur du mal

Ever notice how Claude Chabrol uses drab, cheerless off-season beaches—or deserted shore villages, as in Les Biches, Que la bête meure and Les Innocents aux mains sales—to bridge his scenarios from first act character introductions to the second act’s psychological quandary? One of these days I really should look into this—the topsy-turvy metaphor of water for a bridge.