A Summer's Tale

Gaspard, a young mathematics graduate and ambitious musician, is on summer holiday by the seaside in Dinard, a small Breton seaside resort. He arrives alone and spends all his time alone, staying in his friend's empty flat, composing music, and walking around the town. Gaspard is serious about his music and makes little effort to enjoy his holiday. The movie has very little dialog until he meets a cheerful waitress, named Margot, at her aunt's restaurant. The next day, Gaspard runs into Margot at the beach by coincidence. Despite his seeming indifference to her, she presses him into conversation and sitting with her at the beach. They soon become friends and take daily walks around the local beaches and parklands. During their conversations, the discussions turn to relationships and their academic degrees. He is a math graduate who desires a low-key teaching job so he can focus on his music. Margot is an ethnologist, working with some of the locals in her spare time. Gaspard apparently has an on again/off again girlfriend, Lena, who is planning to visit Dinard although the timeline is unknown. Margot apparently has just broken up with a boyfriend because their future careers are incompatible. Gaspard constantly speaks of his confused relationship with Lena, to which Margot patiently offers advice on life and love. Gaspard, a incompetent romantic, doesn't know what to make of this close relationship and clumsily attempts to kiss Margot on one of their outings. It is not clear if Margot is trying to cultivate a friendship or is simply not interested in a quick fling, but she brushes the attempt off. Gaspard assumes Margot is not attracted to him and they continue their platonic relationship. Margot takes the apathetic Gaspard on many outings, including a research trip to a local fisherman's house to discuss maritime folk songs. Ironically Gaspard is inspired by the fisherman's stories and writes his own sea shanty - a diversion from his typical music.

The plot becomes complicated when another girl in Margot's social circle, Solene, becomes attracted to Gaspard's moody and artistic personality. Solene is more sensual, confident, and straightforward in her approach with Gaspard. She conveniently runs into Gaspard at the beach on one of the days when Margot is not available and seems to have an entire day's itinerary planned out for them at another beach across the bay. Everything is staged perfectly for a romantic rendezvous. Solene's uncle has a house and a boat. Solene, a former choir singer, also shows interest in Gaspard's music when he plays the guitar for her while lounging in her uncle's living room. Her attraction to him and his musical talent boosts his low self-esteem with women. Solene, who just broke up with two suitors herself has very defined ideas of commitment and the romantic process and Gaspard falls into line as she becomes his best option at the moment. They decide to take a trip to Ouessant, an island off the tip of Brittany, the next week.

Adding to the complication is the arrival of Gaspard's on again/off again girlfriend, the blonde and patrician-class Lena, who finds Gaspard at the beach and appears genuinely excited to see him after the long delay. She is impressed and attracted to his summer tan and clothing and they rekindle interest in each other. Gaspard, who has been flummoxed by Lena's standoffish behavior in the past, sees this as renewed commitment and begins to set the stage to renege on the vacation with Solene. During this time, Margot is in the background attempting to consult with him on his growing dilemma, but it is slowly appearing that she is also part of the Gaspard's romantic dilemma. Whenever he is with one of the girls, he gravitationally moves to the option closest to him at the time. His inability to commit to a choice leads Gaspard into the trap of double-booking the trip with both Lena and Solene.

Later in the week, Lena, who is prone to moody outbursts, professes that she is not in love with Gaspard and adds him into the general mix of men that she is sick and tired of. Gaspard, seeing Lena as the most difficult challenge, attempts to show affection but she runs away angry that she cannot find a true love companion. It would appear to Gaspard that his only real option is Solene, but on a walk with Margot, he again kisses her and this time it is reciprocated. Tired of Lena's moods and Solene's pressure, Gaspard then tells Margot he only wants to travel with her to Ouessant as he realizes their relationship is more honest and caring.

While Gaspard is writing music he is interrupted by several phone calls. The first is Lena, who apologizes for her poor behavior and re-invites herself back to Ouessant. Solene is also in the mix, essentially committing to the trip and then hanging up abruptly before any bad news can be relayed to her. Gaspard, who now has a dilemma since he has promised all three women he would take them to Ouessant, is saved by a phone call from a friend who has found a good deal on recording equipment. It's an offer too good to pass up and he decides to leave town and not confront his problems. He assumes Margot will be more forgiving as his friend and confesses he needs to get the music equipment and get away from the whole situation before he has to confront it.

Assuming Margot will always be there for him, she surprises him with the announcement that she is reuniting with her old boyfriend and leaving the seaside town. Gaspard is taken aback, confused and disappointed but the complexities of the problems overwhelm him and he doesn't commit or confess his feelings for Margot. As they walk down the ramp to the ferry they say their goodbyes and kiss passionately. It is apparent that both have romantic feelings for each other, but decisions made previously have doomed their relationship. Margot sadly leaves the harbour as the camera watches Gaspard's boat leave for his future in Rennes.

• Amanda Langlet as Margot
• Melvil Poupaud as Gaspard
• Aurelia Nolin as Lena
• Gwenaëlle Simon as Solene
• Aimé Lefèvre as the newfoundlander
• Alain Guellaff as Uncle Alain
• Evelyne Lahana as Aunt Maiwen
• Yves Guérin as accordionist
• Franck Cabot as cousin

Considered one of the more conventional films by Rohmer (due to its autobiographical nature) with minimal metaphors. The film's youthful characters obsess about their self-image and the overarching theme is how romantic relationships define self-image and projection of self worth.[3] Gaspard sees Lena, regardless of her behavior, as a better business decision. Solene is trying to redefine her "townie" image with an upgrade to a moody, mysterious artist, Lena is profoundly dissatisfied with Gaspard being her best option in life. The most confident of the four characters, Margot, seems to be patiently waiting for Gaspard to find himself and discover her love.

The filming is mostly on the tourist beaches, except when Margot extracts Gaspard for excursions out of his comfort zone. The beach, water scenes being somewhat closed-minded provincial confinement. We do not see Gaspard's relationships with Solene nor Lena as expanding past the beaches and water sports. Margot and Gaspard's long walks and conversations lead them outside of the tourist areas and outside the town.

Rohmer's use of clothing appears to be a metaphor for the personality types Gaspard has to choose from. After the first scene at the beach, Gaspard does not see Margot in swimwear again. Her attire is loose, casual and she appears sloppily in pajamas in a later scene. Her skirts are often short and she appears to use her legs to flirt with the oblivious Gaspard. Lena and Solene's personalities seem to drift with the clothing choices. Lena is accepting, sexual and embracing in her bikini, but cold, uptight and angry in her street clothes. In a similar fashion, the provocative Solene is more hot-headed and quick to anger when she appears in street clothes.

Time plays an important role in the film: title-cards tell the viewer exactly what day it is from 17 July to 6 August. Gaspard tracks the days until Lena is meant to arrive, and then tracks how many days late she is, while walking with Margot and scanning the beaches for her. Characteristically of Rohmer's films, time is shown highly linearly. There are no flash-backs, and there is no extradiegetic music in the film, except for the final scene.

Other typically Rohmerian themes present here include the ideas of self-deception and coincidence, especially applied to a protagonist who does something unexpected while waiting for someone else, and then has to make a difficult choice. Gaspard came to Dinard to wait for Lena, but he develops a close friendship with Margot and has a romance with Solene. When Lena unexpectedly appears, Gaspard is caught in a trap of his own making. To Solene, Gaspard downplays his relationship with Lena. When Solene or Lena show him kindness, Gaspard effusively praises them to Margot. And when they fight, Gaspard becomes extremely pessimistic about their prospects. Margot speaks for the viewer when she says that she fails to understand Gaspard: is he passively trying to keep his romantic interests by pleasing them, or is he a cunning game-player with a plan? Is he deceiving these women, or is he deceiving himself? And who is the substitute for whom? These questions are left open to the viewer's interpretation.

In 1996, due to various economic issues with independent movie theaters and home video, the film was not released in the United States along with many other foreign films.[4] It finally received a limited release on 20 June 2014 .

• A Summer's Tale at IMDb
• A Summer's Tale at AllMovie
• A Summer's Tale at Rotten Tomatoes