Bonjour Tristesse

Cécile recounts a summer holiday she spent in a rented villa on the Mediterranean with her widower father, Raymond. She remembers that summer as the first time she truly understood sadness. Cécile’s story picks up the summer she is 17. Cécile, Raymond, and Raymond’s latest lover, Elsa, have just arrived at their rented villa on the sea. Elsa is a beautiful young woman many years Raymond’s junior, but her fun-loving nature makes her a great fit for Cécile and Raymond’s decadent, carefree lifestyle, so Cécile doesn’t mind that she joins them.

The first few days at the villa are great fun. The unconventional trio spends their days at the beach, though Elsa, a fair-skinned redhead, immediately gets a horrible sunburn. Cécile even attracts the attention of Cyril, a handsome young law student who immediately falls head over heels for Cécile.

Things take a turn when Raymond surprises Cécile with the announcement that Anne, a good friend of Cécile’s late mother, will be joining them at the villa. Anne, a fashion designer, is a serious and pragmatic person who prefers intelligence and sophistication to the decadent, fun, and glamorous life that Raymond, Cécile, and their friends lead. Cécile isn’t even sure why Raymond invited Anne to the villa—or why Anne accepted the invitation. Though Cécile admires Anne’s calm self-assurance, she fears Anne’s presence will dampen the villa’s carefree atmosphere.

Anne arrives from Paris. Though she initially seems upset—and perhaps even jealous—to learn that another woman is staying with Raymond and Cécile, she conceals it with her characteristic emotional restraint and soon settles in with the others. Though Elsa might have youth on her side, Anne is a strikingly beautiful woman. She also can’t hold a candle to Anne’s intelligence and sophistication, and in Anne’s presence, Elsa appears horribly frivolous and silly. Soon, it is Elsa who sees Anne as a threat.

One night, the group visits a casino. Cécile loses track of Raymond and Anne and joins Elsa and Elsa’s friend Juan at the bar. After a while, Elsa goes off to try to find Raymond. She returns a while later, unsuccessful and looking quite distraught. Cécile feels bad for Elsa, so she leaves Elsa and Juan at the bar and goes off in search of Raymond and Anne. At last, Cécile finds the pair together in Anne’s car. Anne explains that she and Raymond are going home—together. Cécile, furious, berates Raymond for abandoning Elsa so callously. The couple drives off, and Cécile returns to the bar and tells Elsa that Raymond has gone home with Anne, who wasn’t feeling well. Elsa is skeptical and breaks down in tears. She goes home with Juan and says she’ll return some other time to retrieve her luggage from the villa.

At the villa the next morning, Cécile heads downstairs for breakfast and greets Raymond and Anne, who make the shocking announcement that they are in love and plan to marry once they return to Paris that fall. Cécile tries to act happy for the couple, though she secretly agonizes over the havoc Anne’s presence will wreak on Cécile and Raymond’s fun, carefree lifestyle.

One day, after an afternoon of sailing with Cyril, Cécile and Cyril cut back through the pine wood. One thing leads to another, and they end up kissing on the forest floor. Anne catches them, assumes the worst, and orders Cécile not to see Cyril again. She also insists that Cécile spend her holiday studying for exams instead. Furious, Cécile begins to plot her revenge against Anne.

When Elsa returns for her luggage the next day, Cécile lies and tells Elsa that Raymond is still in love with her. Encouraged by the possibility of getting back together with Raymond, Elsa agrees to help Cécile with her plan to break up Raymond and Anne. Per Cécile’s plan, Elsa and Cyril will pretend to be a couple whenever they’re around Raymond. Cécile knows how vain and self-conscious about his fading youth Raymond is. The idea is that seeing Elsa with a younger man will stoke Raymond’s jealousy, reignite his desire for Elsa, and hopefully persuade him to act on that desire and betray Anne. Cyril, though reluctant, goes along with the plan out of love for Cécile.

At first, Raymond is only surprised, not jealous, to see Elsa with Cyril. Anne, to Cécile’s horror, feels awful for coming between Cécile and Cyril, and she begs for Cécile’s forgiveness. Anne’s kindness makes Cécile question whether she ought to call off the plan.

One day, after Anne scolds Cécile for lying about studying, Cécile runs off to Cyril’s villa. In the heat of the moment, Cyril and Cécile have sex. It’s Cécile’s first time, and she feels a new tenderness for Cyril afterward. Though she’s not sure if she loves him, she thinks she might.

A few days later, Anne again confronts Cécile about slacking on her schoolwork, and Cécile lashes out. As punishment, Anne locks Cécile in her room—an indignity Cécile has never experienced, and one which reignites Cécile’s thirst for revenge. Later, Cécile meets Cyril in the pine wood to discuss the next phase of their plan.

The next morning, Cécile goes out walking with Raymond. She suggests they cut through the pine wood on their way back. There, they encounter Elsa and Cyril asleep together on the forest floor. The scene, which Cécile has orchestrated, is an enormous success: Raymond emerges from the forest full of furious envy.

The holiday continues, and Raymond becomes more jealous and more desirous of Elsa. At last, he gives in to his desire and invites Elsa for tea in the village. They cut through the pine wood on the way back, where they engage in an intimate moment. Anne sees them and runs from the forest, bereft. Cécile intercepts Anne and immediately understands what has happened. Seeing Anne’s face disfigured by tears forces Cécile to understand the pain she has caused, but it’s too late. Anne drives off.

Raymond returns, beside himself with shame and regret. He and Cécile decide to write a letter to Anne to beg for her forgiveness. They’ve only just finished when the telephone rings. Raymond picks up. As he listens to the caller, his face slackens, and his voice drops. He hangs up and explains to Cécile that Anne has died in a car wreck.

Privately, Cécile believes that Anne’s death was a suicide, though the consensus is that it was a tragic accident. Later, after viewing Anne’s remains, Cécile and Raymond return to the villa. Cécile realizes that she never really loved Cyril.

Anne’s funeral is held in Paris. In the aftermath of Anne’s death, Cécile and Raymond are overcome with grief, though it eventually becomes easier for them to talk about her. One day, Cécile meets a young man at a party and starts to date him. Raymond, too, finds a new lover. They start to feel happy again, though Cécile continues to be plagued by a deep, overwhelming sense of grief and remorse.