Beau Pere (1981)
"Beau-père" (original title)

After her mother dies, fourteen-year-old Marion falls in love with her stepfather, Remy.

Director:

Bertrand Blier

Writers:

Bertrand Blier, Bertrand Blier (novel)

Stars:

Patrick Dewaere, Ariel Besse, Maurice Ronet

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Dewaere	...	Rémi
Ariel Besse	...	Marion
Maurice Ronet	...	Charly
Geneviève Mnich	...	Simone
Maurice Risch	...	Nicolas
Macha Méril	...	La maîtresse de maison (anniversaire) / Birthday Hostess
Rose Thiéry	...	Mme Doullens / Landlord's Wife
Pierre Le Rumeur	...	Le pédiatre / Pediatrician
Yves Gasc	...	M. Doullens / Landlord
Michel Berto	...	Le professeur / Professor
Catherine Alcover	...	Médecin S.O.S. / Emergency Doctor
Henri-Jacques Huet	...	Le gérant du restaurant international / Restaurant Manager
Jacques Rispal	...	Le chauffeur de taxi / Taxi Driver
Nathalie Baye	...	Charlotte
Nicole Garcia	...	Martine

Storyline

Remy is morose, nearing 30 with his career as a musician going nowhere and his eight-year marriage to Martine souring. Then, Martine dies in a car crash, and Marion, her 14-year-old, wants to stay rather than move to her father's. Remy likes the idea: he loves her, he's raised her, and she offers him emotional responsibility. Marion's father objects, but she's willful, so he relents. Soon, she tells Remy she finds him attractive, that she's now "a woman," and why can't they be lovers. Remy is appalled, but weakens, missing her when she spends Christmas with her dad. What if they do become lovers? What next? And what if a women more his age enters the picture?

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Plot Keywords:

musician | melancholy | sexual attraction | age difference | piano | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 October 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beau Pere

Filming Locations:

Ville d'Avray, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sara Films, Antenne 2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in American Beauty (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Try Me (I Know We Can Make It)"
Performed by Donna Summer
Disque Casablanca
Written by Pete Bellotte, Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer (uncredited)

User Reviews

I love films such as this.

I really love films such as Beau Pere. When you read the description of the film (a man in his 30's has a love affair with his 14-yr. old stepdaughter after his wife dies), you kinda think that it's going to be a study about some middle-aged pervert engaging in immoral acts of both incest and pedophilia and that in the end the movie will be some kind of moral tale about the evils of such behavior.

But surprisingly, the film engages you, and paralyzes your initial judgements. It pulls you into its world and somehow you become fascinated by the 14-year old girl and slowly begin to sympathize with the stepfather. The performance of Ariel Besse is so beautiful. She has a matter-of-fact way of dealing with the world, in love, sex, relationships, etc.. She doesn't try to be cute (refreshing) and overly charming. As the movie progresses, she seems to have aged before your eyes, (though physically she remains 14). and suddenly, concepts of right and wrong become blurred. I've often read that in the artistic tradition of the French, the concept of morality does not deal specifically with what is right and wrong, persay.. but what is right and wrong as life is lived. Morality comes in the decisions you make as you live it, not as a pre-condition. It's hard to explain... but as the great french director Renoir once said......everyone has his reasons.

P.S. I wish Bertrand Blier would make more movies. The subjects in his movies such as this and others made over 20 years ago (Les Valseuses, Get out you Handkerchiefs, Too Beautiful for you, etc..) would shock people even by today's standards. But because he gives so much humanity to his characters, these taboo subjects can be seen in a different slant... and essentially isn't that what film, or art for that matter, is really all about.