Girls Can't Swim
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Movie Reviews of Girls Can't Swim
Movie Review: Two-thirds of a great film
Summary: 3 Stars
We begin with Gwen (Isild Le Besco), a 15 or 16-year-old girl living in a precarious situation - financially and emotionally, with regards both to her parents and her string of boyfriends - in a small, heavily tourist-dependent fishing village in Brittany. She eagerly awaits the arrival of her friend Lise, who visits every summer during the holidays, but Lise doesn't seem to be coming this year because of problems of her own. Gwen's father has been mostly absent, but comes home from his latest fishing expedition and decides to sell his boat - and livelihood - while her mother gets a job; now she has him to contend with as she tries to maintain a string of boys and grows increasingly frustrated. Perhaps it is Lise she is really in love with, but the film doesn't go there....cut to the friend (Karen Alyx), in wealthier, more comfortable but no less emotionally uncertain circumstances, also faced with a serious parental problem, not able to go away for the summer, but eventually deciding she must.
The first and second parts of Anne-Sophie Birot's debut feature, each focusing on the separate travails of the two protaganists, are pretty good; Gwen and Lise are troubled but fairly typical teenagers, uncertain about sex and their futures, unable to deal with family pressures, kept going by memories of idyllic summers spent together. Le Besco and Alyx, both a few years older than their characters, are both terrific and very convincing, and the rest of the cast, particularly Pascal Elso as Gwen's drunken and potentially abusive (but nonetheless warm and loving - no simpleton characterizations here) father, are quite solid as well. When the two girls finally meet, in a beautifully edited scene that brings together many of the themes (fathers, writing, sexual uncertainty), I really thought this was going to turn into something special. Unfortunately, the anger and tears that occupy much of the late part of the film often seem forced and unrealistic, and they build up to a resolution that is both contrived and unnecessary - not a "Hollywood" ending, exactly, but a deliberate heightening of drama that is probably supposed to come off as very emotional but just seemed stupid to me. We can guess that the girls are going to have problems together, from what we've seen of their separate early-summer days apart - we don't need the over-the-top behavior and deliberate shocks that we're given.
Despite the problematic last act, the film still has plenty of merit in the acting, the feel for the landscape and culture of a sleepy seaside coastal town, and the gorgeous photography (by Nathalie Durand). And for most of it's length, it certainly feels more realistic and compelling than the majority of teen dramas one gets in America. All in all, an ambivalent feeling for me.
Movie Review: One of the better French films I've seen
Summary: 3 Stars
This is one of the better films I,ve seen from France. Romance was a good film with awful dialog, this films' dialog was some what better. The story was good although tragic. As with all French films, I think there is a problem in the translation and the dialog always sounds so stupid, at least in subtitles. Maybe dubbed versions are better, I don,t know as I haven't checked them out. This film is worth a look, as it has a good storyline and not as artsy as you might think.
charlie67@earthlink.net
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.
Movie Review: Irritating and unorigional
Summary: 2 Stars
I don't remember seeing Isild Le Besco in any other films, but she does look a bit familiar. If I have seen her elsewhere, it must have been in a role that she performed with much greater insight and finesse than Gwen from 'Girl's Can't Swim', or I definitely would remember. I'm still not sure what the title actually means... something about young women struggling to find their way... blah blah blah... but, it actually wasn't a terrible film. Nevertheless, Le Besco's performance is one of the most irritating I've seen in years. I was reminded of Dorothy Parker's cutting remark when critiquing a Katherine Hepburn film: 'She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.'
Le Besco was either shown with an extremely obnoxous smile plastered on her face, or she was smacking her friends or family in a 'hissy fit of rage'. These tantrums always ended with Gwen running off to the sea with all the grace of a three-legged moose. What made LeBesco's performance stand out even more was the fact that everyone else's performances were nearly flawless.
This film was recommended to me after purchasing 'L'Effrontee', a truly marvelous picture. While watching the first 30 minutes of 'Girl's Can't Swim' I could see that I was not the only person who admired 'L'Effontee's' subtle brilliance. Obviously the director and/or screenwriter of 'Girl's Cant' Swim' intended on building upon the other film's message, but as a lark, they subtracted all of its poignance and sensitivity.
I give the film 2 out of 5 because, despite its flaws, it is still superior to the vast majority of 'toejam' that hollywood produces each year.
Movie Review: Superficial
Summary: 1 Stars
Whatever happened to the glory days of French cinema like Truffaut, Godard etc, now replaced by unimaginative "realists" of the type represented in this movie. From the cardboard cutout characters to the inane "plot" this is a film that only teenage girls of 17 and a half could empathize with. This film doesn't tell you anything you haven't seen before in the "coming of age" category...oh, the confusion, the tears, the lousy sex, the intolerant parents etc etc. The only redeeming feature is the actresses who do a brave job with the atrocious screenplay.