Under the Sand

Noted French filmmaker François Ozon directs this drama about personal loss and resilience. Marie (Charlotte Rampling) is deeply in love with her husband, Jean (Bruno Cremer). One day while vacationing at the seashore, Jean disappears into the ocean. A distraught Marie notifies the authorities, but sadly, they find no trace of her beloved husband. Later, back in Paris, Marie attends a dinner party hosted by her friend Amanda (Alexandra Stewart); over the course of dinner, it emerges that Marie and Jean had been married for 25 years. Marie speaks of Jean as if he were still alive, something that disturbs Amanda's fellow dinner guests, and after she is driven home by Vincent (Jacques Nolot), another guest, Marie sees Jean in her apartment and at breakfast the next morning. It quickly becomes apparent that Marie's imagination enables her to go along in life as if nothing happened to Jean, but as she slowly becomes involved with Vincent, she begins to cope with the fact that she is in fact living on her own.
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Review: Sous le Sable belongs to Charlotte Rampling. Delivering a commanding, devastating, and nuanced performance, Rampling portrays Marie Drillon, a middle-aged professor who goes through an emotional roller coaster after the sudden disappearance of her husband. Rampling beautifully handles Marie's various transformations, making it appear outwardly as if she is coping with reality, while inwardly she is collapsing. The writing occasionally lets Rampling down -- the story's twists and turns eventually strain credibility, the scenes do not always work to their fullest potential, and the forced ambiguity of the ending is unnecessary. Still, director Francois Ozon also makes some strong choices. For instance, allowing the audience to see Jean when Marie sees him helps viewers to identify with her. And in Marie's encounter with Jean's mother Suzanne, the subtle hatred between the two women slowly escalates, nearly reaching a stage of vitriol at the end. Ozon also confidently handles such tricky and potentially cliché-ridden scenes as Marie's visit to her husband's study, which could have been heavy-handed but instead is quite moving, and Marie's first time making love to someone other than Jean. Bruno Cremer also turns in a sensitive, almost silent performance as Jean, but this is ultimately Charlotte Rampling's film.