Cousin Cousine is a 1975 film from France, directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella.
Marthe attends the wedding of her mother Biju to a man named Jacques. There she meets another wedding guest, Ludovic, Jacques' nephew. Marthe and Ludovic are both married, but neither particularly happily. Marthe's husband Pascal is a serial philanderer who has girlfriends literally all over town. Ludovic's flighty, neurotic wife Karine goes off to have sex with Pascal during the wedding party. While waiting with their respective spouses, Marthe and Ludovic get to know each other. Some time later, Ludovic invites Marthe out to lunch and tells her that Pascal and Karine are having an affair. The two cousins-by-marriage form a bond and start spending more time together. Soon their friendship deepens into love.
In 1989 Cousin Cousine was remade in English as Cousins, with Ted Danson and Isabella Rossellini.
Tropes:
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Ludovic's daughter Nelsa. She says she hates people. She wants to plot a murder. She takes a look around at a restaurant and calls everyone there greedy pigs. She makes a slideshow of pictures from the wedding that is nothing but people vomiting or peeing or having sex.
- Chekhov's Gun: Averted. Pascal has a gun, which he pulls out of a drawer at one point, but he doesn't use it.
- "Dear John" Letter: After seeing Ludovic and Marthe kiss, Karine writes on a mirror in lipstick, "I'm leaving. It's better that way." Subverted when she returns almost immediately.
- First-Name Basis: Ludovic and Marthe start addressing each other with the familiar tu. Pascal notices this, and says that he and Karine address each other with the formal vous.
- Hypocrite: Pascal, who has a whole sheaf of girlfriends, is enraged at the idea that Marthe is cheating on him.
- I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Pascal claims that "a real man can only prove himself by sleeping with other women.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Karine starts drinking wine straight from a bottle after seeing Marthe and Ludovic kissing and canoodling at a party.
- Jerkass: Pascal is a real piece of work. After telling Marthe that he broke up with his half-dozen girlfriends, he says "I don't feel guilty anymore." When he gets drunk at a party, he starts pawing at all the women. He slaps Marthe's sister when she wont help him patch things up with his wife. He justifies his affair by saying "In secret, it's ok."
- Kissing Cousins: Well, cousins by marriage.
- Mooning: Done by a drunk party guest at the wedding.
- Mrs. Robinson: At the end of the movie Biju is dating a young man who looks half her age.
- Naughty Under the Table: One young man actually crawls under the table at the wedding reception to fondle his girlfriend's leg.
- No-Tell Motel: Marthe and Ludovic consummate their relationship at a hotel that rents rooms for an afternoon.
