Girls Can't Swim
by Anne-Sophie Birot
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Isild Le Besco, Karen Alyx, Marie Rivi?re, Pascal Elso, Pascale Bussi?resDirector: Anne-Sophie Birot
Brand: Genius
Cinematographer: Nathalie Durand
Writer: Anne-Sophie Birot
Editor: Pascale Chavance
Producer: Brigitte Faure
Producer: Philippe Jacquier
Producer: Yvon Crenn
Writer: Christophe Honor?
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber
Movie Reviews of Girls Can't Swim
Movie Review: Another overrated, underachieving, unimpressive French film
Summary: 2 Stars
This movie epitomizes the sub-genre of "French films". Which is to say it engenders every tired stereotype of what makes some French films either unwatchable or unenjoyable (the other type of films from France or by French directors, including Jean-Pierre Juinet/Luc Besson/ etc, who have a good sense of pacing and action and frenetic mood).
To explain my statement about stereotypical French films, the movies in question consistently consist of stilted arthouse drama with unlikable characters who do not have much use for the concept of understatement or indoor voice, whose lives are always immersed in melodrama, whether or not circumstances warrant it. These films also do not seem to place much value in pacing, and indeed regard a slow and plodding progression as an indication of depth and thought, even if such elements are not evident. Something else that seems troubling about this kind of French film (if not the culture itself) is the seemingly nonchalant attitude about physical coercion in sexual encounters. In more than one interview, Gerard Depardieu has cavalierly waxed nostalgic about participating in gang rapes during his teen years. Correspondingly, this film has more than one occasion of where a teenage girl is assaulted, and in each case the matter is regarded with minor (if any) attention at best.
There is also the inveterately disfunctional interactions between all parties in this film, as is so common. As it turns out, hardly of the characters are particularly likable or sympathetic. The father was conveyed as a marginally sympathetic character at the end, until his encounter with Lise. One thing I will give the French credit for is that they do not feel compelled towards using formulaic, predictable happy endings.
Aside from this, the title has an apt metaphor in the plot that has been mentioned in other reviews. However, I was not very impressed with the film, for the plodding execution and other reasons listed. I didn't think the movie was completely terrible, but I also think it wasn't very strong (barely 2 stars). Additionally, both the film's synopsis and several other sources are guilty of misleading descriptions regarding the so-called erotic/sensual nature of the girls' relationship. If this is why you are renting it, you will be very disappointed. Otherwise, if you are an unremitting Francophile or praiser of foreign films, you will find some excuse to laud this film, if for no other reason than your need to.
Summary of Girls Can't Swim
For years, teenagers Gwen and Lise have enjoyed spending their summer vacations together on the Brittany coast, but this summer is different. Gwen's newfound interest in the opposite sex has caused a rift between the two, leading both girls to reexamine their friendship.Girls Can't Swim is a bracing trip into the exciting and brutal adolescence of two French girls. Gwen (Isild Le Besco) is dismayed that her best friend Lise (Karen Alyx) can't join her for their usual joint summer vacation. Fed up with her bickering parents--in particular her erratic, hard-drinking father--Gwen seeks solace in the arms of local boys. But what Lise hasn't told Gwen is that she can't come to the coast because her estranged father has just died in a car accident. Though he hasn't been part of her family for many years, his death sends Lise's mother into a nervous breakdown. Lise finally runs away to see Gwen, but they've become so out of synch that the collision of their heightened emotions leads to disaster. Like Life Is Sweet or The Dreamlife of Angels, Girls Can't Swim creates a sad and vivid portrait of an intimate friendship going wrong. --Bret Fetzer
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