La belle saison

The film, set in 1971, tells the story of the lesbian relationship between Delphine, a farmer's daughter, and Carole, a feminist activist, who meet when Delphine moves to Paris. This does not, however, mean that Delphine is an innocent country girl seduced by the more sophisticated Parisian older woman. It is the exclusively lesbian Delphine who is more experienced than the bisexual Carole- indeed, Carole's previous relationships have all been with men, and she has a boyfriend at the time when she meets Delphine.

Things change when Delphine's father Maurice has a stroke and Delphine, an only child, is forced to return to help her mother Monique run the farm. Carole follows her, but they quickly realise that pursuing their relationship in the countryside will not be easy. In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Paris, at least in the radical circles in which Carole and Delphine move, lesbianism is widely accepted. In "La France Profonde" it is not. Delphine's parents have no idea that she is a lesbian, although some people in the area are beginning to suspect, and they believe that she will marry Antoine, a local boy who is interested in her.

The climax of the film comes when Monique finds Delphine and Carole in bed together. Believing that the older woman has corrupted her daughter, Monique angrily orders Carole to leave her house and never return. Delphine must decide where her future lies. This is not simply a question of deciding between her love for Carole and her loyalty to her family. Delphine has also realised that she loves the countryside, rural traditions and the life of the farm. She therefore also has to decide between her love for Carole and the profession and lifestyle in which she feels most comfortable. I won't give away the ending by revealing which choice she makes.

The film was shown in Britain as "Summertime", but I prefer the original French title "La Belle Saison", partly to avoid confusion with the David Lean film from 1955 with Katharine Hepburn, partly because it seems to me to have more layers of meaning. The romance between Delphine and Carole can be seen as the "beautiful season" of their lives; perhaps the so-called "sexual revolution" of the late sixties and early seventies also seemed like a "beautiful season" to those who lived through it.

Being a heterosexual British male, I am probably not the demographic at which a French lesbian-feminist film is aimed, but I must say that I enjoyed "La Belle Saison". When you can see past some of its preaching, especially on the abortion issue, it emerges as a very good film. Both the lead actresses, Cécile de France and Izïa Higelin, play their parts very well, and the attractive photography of the French countryside- it was shot in the Limousin- give it something of the look of a British "heritage cinema" drama. The period angle reminds us that the past- even the relatively recent past within my own lifetime- is (as L P Hartley said) another country where they do things differently. One likes to think that fifty years on things would be easier for Delphine and Carole than they were in 1971. Perhaps in France, even rural France, they would be, but in some parts of the world I am not so sure. The film reminded me of a recent British film, "Tell It to the Bees", another period drama (in that case set in the fifties) about a lesbian couple confronted with a difficult life choice. Like that film, "La Belle Saison" is a sensitively made, well-acted human drama and a plea for tolerance. 7/10.