Under the Sand (2000)

Probably the best thing about director Francois Ozon's Sous le Sable (Under the Sand) is the re-emergence of sultry British actress Charlotte Rampling in the film's lead role. Having started out in the mid-60s, Rampling was beginning to appear in some rather offbeat, kinky films by the early 70s, such as the incestuous "Tis Pity She's a Whore" and the sado-masochistic "Night Porter." And though she's worked steadily since that time in various film and television roles, to my knowledge, Rampling hasn't had a lead role in a film for quite a few years. And it's good to see her in such fine form. She has always been a competent, attractive actress with an air of intrigue about her. So, here she is as Marie Drillon, a deluded widow who takes living in denial to new heights. Overwhelming evidence suggests that Marie's husband has drowned while swimming, yet she continues to speak of him as if he were alive and has conversations with him when he frequently appears in her apartment. It's a moderately interesting premise, though the pace of the film is a bit slow. As the story progresses, figuring out whether Mr. Drillon committed suicide or died accidentally becomes the focus of the plot. And for a while, it keeps you guessing by revealing small pieces of the puzzle. But the real matter at hand is Marie herself and the outcome of her delusional condition. She seems to make progress at times, especially when she starts dating a gentleman whom her best friend has recommended; yet she continues to struggle emotionally and psychologically.

Ultimately, one is most likely left with an uneasy feeling about poor Marie, and the film would have been more positive and probably stronger if her character could have fostered or conveyed a greater sense of growth. Even so, the film is above average, and Rampling turns in an excellent performance. And if nothing else, one is reminded that not all things in life can be neatly resolved or easily accepted; we choose either to grow, overcome the blows and take responsibility for the quality of our lives or we suffer the consequences.

Fmovies: Mental illness as a lifestyle option seems to be the theme of this work. Very potent in examining the reality and meaning of loss and acceptance (or lack thereof). The always captivating Charlotte, (great to see Dirk Bogarde's little girl all growed up) looking elegant as a woman of a certain age in a very Anglo-Parisian sheath dress-wearing kind of way, is wonderful in her ability to convey contained confusion struggling to make sense of a pain too great to bear. Also noteworthy, stylistically, is a rare instance of unease being effectively evoked in spite of sunlit sets and daytime outdoor shots. No doom and gloom here, she gets to suffer in the light of day. A film that will remain with the moviegoer long after viewing because of its painful emotions and its visually powerful final shot.

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.

Under the Sand fmovies. I don't quite understand comments about the movie being slow. To me it was quite unpredictable and it maintained suspense throughout. The acting was very good and what struck me the most was how the movie was able to strike a realistic balance in everything, that was almost eerie. Indeed that is what made the movie so convincing to me. What also fascinates me is that even though the movie was realistic it was magical . I guess the real world is a magical place :-)

Bottom line: go see it!

A surprising change of pace for (up to that stage in his directorial career) shock auteur François Ozon in the wake of bourgeois facade-ripping as REGARDE LA MER and SITCOM, this minimalist masterpiece deals with love, loss and grief yet never becomes heavy-handed.

Middle-aged Marie (luminous Charlotte Rampling making a belated but extremely welcome return to leading roles), an English literature professor at a Parisian university, quite literally loses her husband (hauntingly sad-eyed Bruno Cremer) while on seaside holiday. She takes a nap on the beach as he's out swimming. When she wakes up, he has disappeared. Accidentally or voluntarily drowned ? Hiding perhaps from a stifling marriage ? Ozon offers no solid answers but focuses but focuses on Marie's stubborn denial of her husband's departure as she resumes her professional and social life as if nothing had happened. While those around her assume she's slipping from sanity, the truth proves considerably less tangible and far more nuanced. A tentative affair with the friend of a friend seems doomed from the start, leading to the shattering final scene, all the more heartbreaking for being open to any number of interpretations, none of them particularly cheerful.

Even though the filmmaker has reigned in his wicked humor and morality-defying shock tactics, this fortunately doesn't mean he has gone all solemn on us. The general lightness of tone might indeed startle in light of the subject matter, plus there's even an astonishingly erotic moment when Marie imagines herself being groped by both husband and lover in an elegant masturbatory fantasy. Ultimately, this is very much Rampling's show and clearly intended as such. Rarely out of frame for more than an instant here, she delivers the type of performance – both subtle and sensuous – that has been her stock in trade since she started enchanting movie audiences worldwide back in the '60s, her mysterious beauty undiminished (if anything, augmented more like) by the passing years. Contrary to her personal code of conduct (she will rarely work more than once with the same director, always looking for new experiences to further her craft and personal growth), she went on to star in Ozon's deceptively upbeat SWIMMING POOL and took a supporting role in his first failure to date, the atrocious ANGEL.

Many film fans run screaming for the door when confronted with French film drama. It is true: a lot of them tend to be over-talkative and self indulgent. François Ozon's Sous le sable is a worthy exception. Carried almost entirely by Charlotte Rampling, this story of a woman unable to face the loss of her husband marks the return to form of a great actress. Through her sensitive handling of her character one tends to forget the effort that must have gone into depicting an intelligent woman slowly going to pieces. Ozon managed to capture the special sensuality of an older woman especially well in the erotic scenes; imagined or otherwise. It is not an easy film to watch, the subject matter too painful, but its unflinching honesty coupled with Ramplings moving performance make it more than worth-while.