Water Lilies
by Cline Sciamma
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Adele Haenel, Christel Baras, Louise Blachre, Pauline Acquart, Warren JacquinDirector: Cline Sciamma
Brand: Koch International
Writer: Cline Sciamma
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-02
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Koch Lorber Films
Movie Reviews of Water Lilies
Movie Review: Water Lilies is Water Lilies
Summary: 5 Stars
After viewing Naissance des pieuvres two days after my arrival home from the East Coast, I want to re-negociate this maxim: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I declare: certain beauty, however, should be in the eyes of all beholders.
I hardly ever write film reviews especially lesbian ones (most, if not nearly all, are crap) because my memory of viewed films is so flimsy and vacuous and I have no talent on writing one. But I cannot resist pontificating on this one: Water Lilies. The original French title of the film Water Lilies is Naissance des Pieuvres, which translates to "birth of the octopuses," directed by a first time director (yes, a neophyte), Celine Sciamma. Unlike most boring critics do, I won't recapture the plot or summarize it in the most obscene way that takes away from the film extraordinary presentation so if you wish to form literary images of what the film constitutes before viewing the movie I highly recommend that you traffic websites such as imbd or rotten tomatoes or potatoes or onions.
Some less intelligent people call Water Lilies trash (I don't blame them. They disposed their how-to-appreciate-brilliant-films into the trash bin and walked airheaded into the theater) and other unreasonable critics claim it to be pretentious and whatnot. This review here by Manohla Dargis is ugly, dry, and ineloquent as any floor that hasn't been swept in twenty years. [..]
[...]
At any rate, I am not here to review reviews of Naissance des pieuvres...It is, really, a brilliant film (lesbian content-wise or not). Its captivating level of rawness and maturity can't be compared to any film about teens I have seen. A strong meditation on the ambiguity of sexual desires. And it offers a fresh gaze on teen angst and budding same gender friendships in an age of pornography. Because of actresses' strong, dictating body language/performance, the film could almost fall under the genre of Silent Film. The acting is superb by Pauline Acquart (who plays Marie) and Adèle Haenel (Floriane). Haenel may be the next Catherine Denueve.
The scene starting with "I swear, Marie..." The gaze, the body gesture, the passion from the two leading protagonists hit my heart like lightning. The shot left a billion octupuses inside the vault of my imagination...I simply don't know how to describe...how it reached out to me.
As Andrew O'Hehir stated so precisely:
"Dismissed in some quarters as trash because it depicts a sexual act (of sorts) between two teenage girls, Water Lilies struck me instead as a hypnotic and wholly convincing look at teen culture from the inside, with all its courage, cruelty and unspoken codes of silence intact."
Summary of Water Lilies
WATER LILIES - DVD MovieDirector Céline Sciamma?s feature debut, Water Lilies, recalls the intimacy of teenage friendship as it tells the story of three girls grappling with their newly formed sexual identities in suburban Paris. Opening with scenes of the local high school?s synchronized swimming team, Water Lilies stars Marie (Pauline Acquart), coveting a spot on the sophisticated female sports team. Her best friend, Anne (Louise Blachère), is non-athletic and grows increasingly disturbed as Marie courts swim team captain, sexy Floriane (Adele Haenel), to secure a place in the popular group. However, as Marie and Floriane grow closer, Marie learns hard lessons about loyalty and bonds girls develop at this crucial life stage. Water Lilies is stylishly filmed, with slow, rolling scenes reminiscent of Sofia Coppola?s film, The Virgin Suicides. A charming shot of Marie, for example, kicking her legs up in the bath as her pet turtle swims around her exemplifies the cute, acutely personal tone this film cultivates. All three girls, but especially Floriane, exude hipster appeal that is greatly enhanced by a subtle lesbian subtext that underlies their love triangle conflict. As borders between friendship and attraction melt away, Water Lilies becomes testament to the unique intimacy that females can achieve. Unlike Sofia Coppola?s films, which tend to gloss over character depth in favor of pinpointing fashionable aspects of melancholy, this film?s narrative unfolds craftily, through quiet dialogue between the girls that show how deeply each cares for the other. Scenes in locker rooms and swimming pools alone, as the "synchro" girls travel for competitions, get costumed, and practice their routines, make Water Lilies enjoyable. Even more rewarding, however, is Sciamma?s ability to turn teenage identity crisis into something humorous, while still conveying its severity and high-stakes outcomes. --Trinie Dalton
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