''Rendezvous at Bray'' (french: Rendez-vous à Bray) is a 1971 French-Belgian

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

André Delvaux André Albert Auguste Delvaux (; 21 March 1926 – 4 October 2002) was a Belgian film director. He co-founded the film school INSAS in 1962 and is regarded as the founder of the Belgian national cinema. Adapting works by writers such as Joh ...

and starring

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

. It was entered into the

21st Berlin International Film Festival The 21st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 26 June – 6 July 1971. The ''Young Filmmakers Forum'' (in 1987 renamed ''International Forum for New Cinema'') section was introduced at the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded ...

. Much of the film may be imagined by the characters and much is unexplained, leaving viewers to come up with their own interpretations.

Plot

Jacques, a composer serving as a fighter pilot during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, asks his friend Julien, a Luxembourger working as a music journalist in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, to meet him at Bray behind the front lines. His family's country house is there, looked after by a solitary housekeeper. Jacques has not arrived when Julien turns up and is let in by the beautiful but largely silent woman. While she prepares him dinner, he reflects on the ups and downs of his life in Paris before the war with the charming rich Jacques and his vivacious girl friend Odile. After showing him to a bedroom, the servant spends the night with him. In the morning, he rushes off to the railway station but does not board the Paris train. Something, we do not know what, impels him to stay.

Cast

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

as Elle (la servante) *

Mathieu Carrière Mathieu Carrière (; born 2 August 1950) is a German actor. Life Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's fi ...

as Julien Eschenbach *

Roger Van Hool Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

as Jacques Neuil *

Bulle Ogier Bulle Ogier (born Marie-France Thielland; 9 August 1939) is a French actress and screenwriter. She adopted the professional surname Ogier, which was her mother's maiden name. Her first appearance on screen was in ''Voilà l'Ordre'', a short film ...

as Odile * Boby Lapointe as L'Aubergiste * Pierre Vernier as Monsieur Hausmann *

Luce Garcia-Ville Luce may refer to: People * Luce (name), as a given name and a surname * Luce (singer) Places * Luče, a town in Slovenia * Luce, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * Luce Bay, a large Bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland * Luce C ...

as Mme Nueil *

Nella Bielski Nella Bielski (1930s – 4 November 2020) was a Ukrainian-born French writer and actress. Bielski was born in Ukraine in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and died on 4 November 2020 in Antony a suburb of Paris. She studied philosophy at Moscow Stat ...

as Un Visage (la femme du train) *

Pierre Lampe Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

as Le Soldat * Jean Aron as Joseph, le projectionniste *

Léonce Corne Léonce Charles Corne (18 March 1894 – 31 December 1977) was a French film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1974. Selected filmography * '' The Girl and the Boy'' (1931) * ''Luck'' (1931) * '' The Premature Father'' (1933 ...

as Le Garde-Vue *

Martine Sarcey Martine Sarcey (28 September 1928 – 11 June 2010) was a French stage, film and television actress.Giguere pg. 37 Selected filmography * ''Matrimonial Agency'' (1952) * ''Méfiez-vous, mesdames'' (1963) * '' The Thief of Paris'' (1966) * '' ...

as Mme Hausmann *

Jean Bouise Jean Bouise (3 June 1929 – 6 July 1989) was a French actor. He was born in Le Havre. In the 1950s he helped to found Théâtre de la Cité, and was a player in the company. He entered films in the 1960s, and played a supporting roles in ...

as Le rédacteur en chef

References

External links

* 1971 films 1970s French-language films 1970s German-language films 1971 drama films Louis Delluc Prize winners Films directed by André Delvaux Films scored by Frédéric Devreese 1971 multilingual films French drama films Belgian drama films French multilingual films Belgian multilingual films 1970s French films {{Belgium-film-stub