''Rendez-vous'' (English: ''Appointment'') is a 1985 French

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

André Téchiné André Téchiné (; born 13 March 1943) is a French screenwriter and film director. He has a long and distinguished career that places him among the most accomplished post-French New Wave, New Wave French film directors. Téchiné belongs to a s ...

. The film stars

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 films, particularly in French and English, and has been the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Juliette Binoche, numerous accolades, ...

, Lambert Wilson, Wadeck Stanczak and

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-World War II, war era. He starred in m ...

. ''Rendez-vous'' premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best Director. The film had a total of 766,811 admissions in France.

Plot

Nina is a young headstrong woman who has traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from her provincial home in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

searching immediate success as an actress. Tired of one-night stands and sharing quarters with others, she sets out to find her own apartment, stopping in to a realtor's office. There, she meets Paulot, a timid real estate clerk, who is immediately smitten by her. She invites him to see her perform in the small role she has as a maid in a boulevard comedy. After the play, Nina takes Paulot for dinner with her current boyfriend Fred, but the couple has a major row, breaking off their relationship. Paulot invites Nina to stay at his apartment while she finds her own place, but his roommate, Quentin, refuses to let her stay. They have to settle for a hotel room for the night. In their long walk through the city, she tells Paulot that she has slept with nearly every man she has encountered. She complains to him that she is tired of being used solely for easy sex and asks him to leave her alone. Quentin, however, has followed them to the hotel: he forces his attentions on Nina. Nina and Quentin then begin an intense and violent liaison. An actor who performs in a live sex show version of

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

, Quentin is unpredictable and provocative. Nina bounces between the two vastly different men: the gentle Paulot and the dangerous and intense Quentin. Nina has an approach/avoidance conflict with Quentin, all the while fending off offers by Paulot to take care of her. When he finds that she has slept with Quentin, Paulot starts to change his calm manners towards Nina, but he does not lose his craving for her. Quentin is run over and killed by a car, in what seems to be a suicide. The only other person attending his funeral is the elderly theater director, Scrutzler, who eventually explains that in London he had cast Quentin as Romeo, but Quentin had withdrawn after he survived a suicide pact with Scrutzler's daughter, with whom he had a passionate love affair. During casting of Romeo and Juliet, Scrutzler recognizes Nina among the aspiring actresses for the role and cast her as Juliet. Full of self-doubt and fear, stimulated by the ghost-like appearances of the dead Quentin, Nina prepares for the role and copes with Paulot's advances. They share an apartment, but have settled for a platonic relationship. However, Paulot is still in love with Nina and is jealous of Scrutzler's interest on her. Paulot confronts Scrutzler, but in spite of the director's assurance that his interest in her is only of a paternal nature, Paulot leaves Nina. Nina struggles to rehearse her role as Juliet in the forthcoming play but, after Paulot leaves her, realizes that he is the one she is really in love with. Nina goes to his work looking for him and entices him to make love to her. They have sex for the first time, in a violent and degrading coupling. Nina then insists in going for a long nocturnal walk, like the one they had the first time they met. She gives him a ticket for the coming opening night of Romeo and Juliet, but after he leaves her, Paulot tears up the ticket, reaffirming his decision to break away from her. Nina, nervously preparing for her entrance, suffers stage fright. Scrutzler calms her down, but then leaves for London, deciding she must continue on her own. As the film ends, Nina is left alone in the stage wings. The play is about to start...

Cast

as Nina * Lambert Wilson as Quentin * Wadeck Stanczak as Paulot *

as Scrutzler *

Dominique Lavanant Dominique Lavanant (born 24 May 1944) is a French film and theatrical actress. She is known for her comedy skills especially with posh and distinguished characters like Rosalind Russell's; characters often defined by the adjective ''BCBG'', ' ...

as Gertrude * Michèle Moretti as Daisy * Jean-Louis Vitrac as Fred * Anne Wiazemsky as Administrator

Themes

''Rendez-vous'' is a dark yet powerful examination of love and sexual desire from the point of view of three emotionally scarred young people. The film is a lyrical exploration of love and loss, reality and fantasy.

Production

In 2023 Juliette Binoche said she was shocked during the scene where Nina is sleeping and Quentin and Paulot, played by Lambert Wilson and Wadeck Stanczak, put their hands between her legs.

References

External links

* {{André Téchiné 1985 films 1980s erotic drama films French erotic drama films 1980s French-language films Films directed by André Téchiné Films scored by Philippe Sarde Films set in Paris Films about actors Films about theatre 1985 drama films 1980s French films