Someone goes to a spa, beach, or retreat*

“There’s something almost poetic about finding a hairpin in the bath. It’s like the sole of my foot has been pierced by poetry.”

– Nanmura, via

Relaxing at an onsen, a young man steps on the titular kanzashi. Now injured with too much time on his hands, he and his fellow nosy patrons start speculating about its owner. Then a telegram announces her arrival.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

“Fantastic! You are a first class dilettante!”

– Kidlat's proud parents

“I see what I see, and I know what I know. But nobody believes me.”

– Granny Vogler

 

 

A film with people at, or taking place in, a hotel*

“Mr. Hulot is off for a week by the sea. Take a seat behind his camera, and you can spend it with him. Don't look for a plot, for a holiday is meant purely for fun, and if you look for it, you will find more fun in ordinary life than in fiction.”

– opening lines

Located in the real-world Hôtel de la Plage in Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, Mr Hulot lovingly bumbles his way into your heart.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

“You've won a doll and a kiss. I'll give you the doll and your girl can give you the kiss!”

– Coney Island barker

Additionally, IMDb writes that “director Pietro Germi filmed a close-up of the front page of a newspaper announcing Yuri Gagarin's flight around the earth on April 12th 1961.”

Characters shake hands on National Handshake Day (USA)

 

Two illusionists compete with increasingly incredible tricks, sealed with a hefty handshake.