My Night at Maud's

At first glance the movie moves very slowly. But that is the way the film is supposed to work, especially in context with the characters. Maud is a seductive, "anything goes" kind of girl, whereas Jean-Louise is a devout catholic convert. This juxtaposition is reflected in the film where Jean-louise is a thinker and afraid to give in to temptation and Maud is an instinctive person. It seems as if Jean-Louise has a pre-conceived notion as to how a relationship and his life is supposed to be. When he first sees Francoise in church, he immediately stated his intention to marry her. But when he stays the night at Maud's, he resists her advances because of his "ideal" life that he has built in his head. Immediately after that night, he "accidentally" runs into Francoise, and that relationship is almost forced. But the relationship between Maud and Jean-Louise is more relaxed and free-flowing. It is this kind of ambiguity that comes with feeling out-of-element, but still comfortable that Jean-Louise is battling with. The rest of the film reflects this in  dialogue. And lots of it. There is also talk of Pascal, the Jansinests, and religion. It all intermingles and deals with the whole idea of "chance" vs. "ideals." The meeting between Maud and Jean-Louise was chance, but it worked. It worked better than his relationship with Francoise which is more ridged and less free-flowing. But non the less, it is Jean-Louise's fear and adherence to his religion that keeps him chasing after the church girl.