Tuesday, November 26, 2024: While browsing on YouTube, I noticed interesting movies. I decided to watch one. A Day at the Beach is a 1970 Roman Polanski movie with Peter Sellers. A man drops by his brother’s townhouse, where his brother gives him money to take care of his young daughter and buy her whatever she wants. The man enters the townhouse, flirts with the young girl’s mother, and waits for the little girl. When the young girl comes out in the living room, the man snaps that she should wear pants to cover her leg brace on one leg. The little girl gives him a dirty look. Instead, she wears a yellow raincoat before they go out together. He babysits his brother’s young daughter by taking her out for a walk in the rain. They stop for drinks at beach café, and he buys drinks for the young girl, three beers for himself, and coffee for the mother and daughter who own the café. But he refuses to pay. The young girl loses one shoe, but he won’t return to get her shoe. They walk by the shops on the promenade, and he buys cigarettes and beer for himself as well as another shell for Winnie from two gay men. He is rude to everyone he encounters. Winnie loves her uncle, even though everyone thinks he is vulgar and nasty. He goes off on a tirade political speech at the beach, entertaining Winnie. They continue to walk on the promenade, often stopping at indoor places. Winnie is cold, waiting for him, while he pisses in the ocean. They stop at a carnival. They drive a bumper car together. He runs into a poet friend with his family.
A 1970 Roman Polanski movie
Nicolas drives Bernard and Winnie to an old bar in his mini red car, while Nicolas’ wife and son wait at the beach. Bernard makes Nicolas go with him inside the bar and drink, while Winnie stays inside the car. He makes Nicolas pay for the beers, before Nicolas leaves to get his wife and son. I guess Winnie goes with Nicolas. There is a sign inside the bar,“The nondrinker is a nit.” Nicolas returns with his wife, while the kids remain in the car. Nicolas and Bernard are drunk, and Tonie is worried he won’t be able to drive. It appears it is getting late, and they forgot the kids inside the little red car. The little boy starts crying for his parents, while Winnie comforts him, telling him he isn’t alone. Bernard sensually kisses Tonie, and she responds with the same fervor.
Bernard leaves, while Tonie buys coffee for her drunk husband. He gets Winnie from the car, as Tonie comes out to check on her son. Winnie wants to go home, and Bernard tells her he needs to find a phone to call her mother. He tells her to count while she waits for him. He enters another bar, where two people are playing a dice game. He drinks more.
Winnie is crying outside, waiting for her uncle. People surround her, worried about her, and an old man enters the bar. He looks angry as he inquires about the irresponsible person who left a crying child outside. The group huddled around Winnie shout at him for his irresponsible behavior. He buys Winnie food at a diner. He stops at a liquor store to buy more alcohol. He is very drunk and Winnie is very tired. He feels sick on the beach. He realizes Winnie has disappeared. He staggers on the shore, calling her name, often falling in the water, until he finally sees his niece. He cries, and she takes care of him, comforting him, as she walks with him around, looking for a taxi. He passes out in the middle of a brick street of a courtyard, and little Winnie cries for him to wake up, worried he might be hurt.
He appears to have mental issues because he needs to self-medicate himself while ignoring his young niece. He is either drinking, smoking cigarettes, going off on something political tirade about society, or saying nasty things to people he meets. Winnie doesn’t really understand. She just loves her uncle and she wants to hang out with him, exploring the street together, even though she often gives him weird looks. She appears mature for her age, trying to comfort her uncle as well as Nicolas’ son. She seems more nurturing than the adults in the movie. The adults appear to be lost, dealing with their issues that the kids are left alone to take care for themselves.
I thought it was a depressing movie about messed up adults who are careless, immature, and irresponsible. They obviously have a hard life, struggling with their own life and issues, which puts them in a frustrated rut. They often take out their frustration on others. They often ignore the kids for their own selfish needs, but the kids appears to be OK in this movie because they seem more mature and grounded than the adults. This is 1970 movie appears to be somewhere in Europe.
