clothing choices. Léna is accepting, sexual and embracing in her bikini, but cold, uptight and angry in her street clothes. In a similar fashion, the provocative Solène 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 Léna 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 Léna, but he develops a close friendship with Margot and has a romance with Solène. When Léna unexpectedly appears, Gaspard is caught in a trap of his own making. To Solène, Gaspard downplays his relationship with Léna. When Solène or Léna 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. Release 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. It finally received a limited release on 20 June 2014 . References External links 1996 films 1996 comedy-drama films 1996 romantic comedy films 1996 romantic drama films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films Films about vacationing Films directed by Éric Rohmer Films produced by Margaret Ménégoz French romantic comedy-drama films 1990s French films