Hotel America

Hélène nearly hits Gilles Tisserand while driving through Biarritz one night. They stop for a coffee and end up spending the night at a diner while she files a report. By the next morning, Gilles has fallen in love.

The next morning, Gilles asks Hélène for a date and she accepts, though she remains emotionally distant. Their budding interest is clear, but she isn't sure about him yet. The encounter sets the tone for their complicated relationship.

Gilles has just returned from New York and brings his friend Bernard with him. They end up living for free at the Hotel de la Gare, run by Gilles' mother and his younger sister Elise. The two friends settle into a precarious but comfortable setup.

Bernard wants to seduce Elise, a studious girl who never goes out and loves reading. Elise repeatedly turns him down, creating tension in the trio. Their dynamic adds a tense edge to their social circle.

Gilles invites Hélène to a restaurant at the local casino with Bernard and Colette. The evening ends in discord as Hélène dislikes Bernard’s attitude and Gilles confronts her about her apparent superiority toward his friend. The night drives a wedge between them.

After the confrontation, Hélène pursues him and they eventually sleep together in his mother's hotel. Their relationship becomes a serious, if uneasy, bond. The relationship starts to deepen despite underlying tensions.

Gilles finds a job as a tourist guide and also paints Hélène's beachfront apartment. His new routine marks a shift toward a more stable life, though it does not erase underlying doubts. Hélène remains haunted by her past while trying to build a future.

Hélène carries the memory of her previous lover, an architect who drowned in Biarritz over a year earlier. His death is the reason she moved to Biarritz, and it shadows her new relationship. The past begins to intrude on the present.

Hélène has inherited La Salamandre, a large abandoned house outside town that the architect had planned to inhabit. Gilles insists she move there and away from the beachfront apartment. The plan suggests a turning point in their relationship.

Bernard and Gilles clash about Hélène, and later in a park Bernard assaults Luc, Collette’s gay friend who tries to pick him up. A police investigation later uncovers stolen items in Bernard's hotel room, and he is arrested.

The move to La Salamandre proves cold and distant, far from town, complicating their relationship and intensifying their problems. They navigate isolation while trying to make the place a home. The change worsens rather than improves their bond.

Gilles becomes moody and possessive, straining the relationship. He proposes a trip to London but retracts, and a drunken scene on the beach ends with him slapping Hélène. The incident marks a breaking point between them.

Disillusioned, Hélène decides to return to Paris. On the train, she tears up a photo of Gilles, but she cannot bring herself to throw it out the window.

The Hotel de la Gare is renamed Hôtel des Amériques at its reopening party. Colette breaks into tears when Luc tells her that Bernard has left town with money, while Elise kisses Rudel. The night exposes shifting loyalties among their circle.

Elise informs Gilles that Hélène has returned permanently to Paris. He rushes to the train station, but must wait a day for the next train, spending the night rehearsing what he will say to her, tears in his eyes.