Kara Dahl Russell This is a mature, thoughtful study of the games we play with ourselves to make it through the day; a walk through loss and denial. The acting is simple and superb throughout.Rampling gets deserved praise for this role, but Bruno Cremer as her husband has perhaps the most difficult role to tread, it's a fine line done marvelously.Ozon is one of my favorite Directors. His work is always thought provoking, risky, and willing to explore the dark corners to bring fullness to the life of his characters. Some of Ozon's work is bright and campy. His other mode is quiet and serious. This is one of his most serious, and one of the best.

The_Void Unlike the vast majority of the rest of talented French director Francois Ozon's films, Under the Sand features hardly a shocking moment. In fact, the most shocking thing about this movie is the level of restraint present towards the end when Ozon has a clear shot at giving his audience something to go home with, but doesn't capitalise on it. On the whole, Under the Sand is simply a sombre tale of love, fused with tragedy and the implications of loss. The film follows Marie Drillon (Charlotte Rampling), a woman who loses her husband while on holiday. As he has been lost in the sea, Marie has no body to prove that her husband is indeed dead, and so continues her life pretending that he's still around. The film then follows a psychological thriller structure, as we watch our protagonist disintegrate as a result of her loss. Under the Sand is more than just another thriller, however, as Francois Ozon directs it, and his energy and invention always ensure that the film remains interesting.It's amazing just how relaxed this film is, as just shortly before seeing it I was lucky enough to catch Ozon's "Water Drops on Burning Rocks", and said film is a completely different kettle of fish to this one. There's next to no startling imagery, no impromptu dance sequences and on the whole it just seems like Ozon wanted to make a straight art film. Not that I have a problem with that. The film stars Charlotte Rampling, who would go on to collaborate with Ozon on the bewitching Swimming Pool and is an excellent actress on the whole. Ozon always ensures he gets the best out of her as well, and in this film, as in Swimming Pool, you always get the impression that the bond between actress and director is a happy one and one that both parties are satisfied with. The film's substance draws from it's themes of loss, but the most haunting element of the movie is the idea that love is ever lasting. In today's day and age it seems that it's socially acceptable to cheat on your lover, but this film ardently disagrees with that view. While I don't rate this as one of Ozon's best films, it's definitely a good one and I don't hesitate to recommend it.

Travis_Bickle01 "Sous le sable" tells the story of Marie Drillon, excellently performed by Charlotte Rampling, whose husband disappears when they are on holiday after he went for a swim in the sea. What follows is the struggle of Marie who can't accept the fact that her husband is dead and that he will never return. In several scenes is shown that Marie still talks to her husband in the present tense, like he's only gone for a couple of days but will return very quickly. In one of the last scenes we know for sure her husband is dead because they found his body. In that scene, we see again that she just can't accept it because the body that is found has all the characteristics of her missing husband, but she still denies that it is her husband.Charlotte Rampling gives a remarkable performance. The movie is partly based on something Francois Ozon experienced in real life. Years ago, when he was at the beach, he saw a woman who's husband was went for a swim in the sea and didn't seem to return. He always wondered what happened to the woman and her missing husband. Excellent movie, Francois Ozon is a brilliant director. I've seen "8 Femmes" as well and this is also a very good movie, although it's something completely different.8/10

Philby-3 I saw this after `Swimming Pool', a much lighter and sunnier piece by Ozon, with Charlotte Rampling also in the leading role. Whereas `Swimming Pool' is a light thriller with the theme of how books get written, `Souse le Sable' is an emotionally riveting dead serious examination of grief and its effects. This is not an easy film to watch (grief is never easy) but Charlotte keeps us there with a performance of rare power.Her English born but French resident character Marie has been married for 30 years to Jean, apparently happily, though there are no children. She lectures modern English literature at a university in Paris (particularly Virginia Woolf). Like everybody else in France she and Jean go on ‘oliday in August, in their case to a cottage they own near the sea in Landes, south western France. On their first morning at the beach Jean, in his sixties and not terribly fit, goes in for a swim and doesn't come back. No body is found and Charlotte goes back to Paris to pick up her life. She goes back to work, goes to a dinner party or two, and even sleeps with Vincent, one of the men her friends have put her way. The trouble is that Charlotte's grief is so strong she finds herself believing Jean is still alive, still massaging her back in bed and even watching from a doorway as she makes love to Vincent. Her friends notice this but attempt to ignore it, beyond suggesting a psychiatrist. But of course psychological gorillas of this size are not easily put off. She is also disturbed by some indications that Jean, confronted by fatal illness, may have committed suicide. Some time later a body is found and Marie travels south to make the identification. She realises that painful as this might be, she must do it for her own sake. But the gorilla comes along for the ride.This is a starkly serious, but very honest film. Sometimes you think the characters are too honest for their own good, such as when Marie tells the hapless Vincent he falls down in the weight department and that he means nothing to her. Jean's ancient mother is also pretty cutting, suggesting at one point that Jean just got bored with Marie and decided to disappear. Well, sometimes people are brutally frank, but it doesn't usually help.Charlotte as Marie is pretty near perfect. She has the facility of conveying her character's emotions with no more that a look or a glance – no histrionics required. She can still do sex without arousing pity. And she gets us to care about her character, dully middle-aged as she may be. Ozon has obtained a marvelous performance from her. `Swimming Pool' by comparison is Ozon/Rampling Lite and was a lot easier to watch, but `Souse le Sable' is a profoundly moving film.The unfortunate thing about grief, as is shown, that the happier you were with the loved one, the more difficult it is to handle their loss. Marie couldn't imagine life without Jean and then can't accept his passing. Time helps, but does not always heal. Sometimes you think it might be better to be the one that goes first.