A bit slow (somehow like a Sofia Coppola movie) but still a very captivating film about the discovery of sexuality by three teenage girls. The magic of the movie lies in its capacity to bring back many memories to how it felt like to be their age. The confusion and the insecurities are portrayed in a very simple way but so true to life. The music is perfect and the acting is amazing. The camera works beautifully also. I highly recommend it for those who are not afraid to look back at this particular period of life when we discover our sexual impulses and our desires. I would also say that it is a fine film for young people going through that period. So many movies have been made about adolescence but this really captures the true essence of discovering the adult world of romance and its complexities.
47 Reviews
Topsy-turvy relations among three adolescent girls
rasecz31 March 2008
Three teenage girls in an incomplete triangular relation. The base of the triangle is barely there. At the apex is Marie, a serious, short and lean tomboy with a Belmondo-like facial structure. Her best friend is the physical and psychological opposite: coquette, chubby -- I dare say fat -- and desirous for her first kiss with a boy but not quite ready for her first sexual encounter. Because of her chubbiness, boys don't seem interested and it pains her.
The other leg of the apex is a beautiful "fille fatale" blonde vamp. She is deeply involved in the sport of synchronized swimming performing at competitive level. Marie sees her during a competition at the local public swimming pool. Marie insinuates herself into the life of the vamp using the desire to become a synchronized swimmer as an argument. The vamp has a reputation of being a whore, making out with any young male that orbits around her. Marie is not phased out by that reputation. Put a stress on reputation.
The first half is set up. We get to see a lot of synchronized swimming as we become familiar with the three girls. Eventually the narrative leaves synchronized swimming behind and concentrates on the topsy-turvy relations among the three. That's when unexpected things start to happen.
It is a trademark of French films to drop nuggets of wisdom on the viewer. This one is no exception. Here it is about ceilings and the dying. See the film to learn more.
The director says that the use of synchronized swimming is purposeful. That women-only sport is a metaphor for a girl's life: pretty and feminine on the surface while hard working and competitive underneath. A number of scenes drive this point: elegant moves and smiles for the public, legs kicking ungainly underwater. The title in French is also suggestive: "prieuve", or octopus, suggest an individual having to juggle many pressures simultaneously.
The other leg of the apex is a beautiful "fille fatale" blonde vamp. She is deeply involved in the sport of synchronized swimming performing at competitive level. Marie sees her during a competition at the local public swimming pool. Marie insinuates herself into the life of the vamp using the desire to become a synchronized swimmer as an argument. The vamp has a reputation of being a whore, making out with any young male that orbits around her. Marie is not phased out by that reputation. Put a stress on reputation.
The first half is set up. We get to see a lot of synchronized swimming as we become familiar with the three girls. Eventually the narrative leaves synchronized swimming behind and concentrates on the topsy-turvy relations among the three. That's when unexpected things start to happen.
It is a trademark of French films to drop nuggets of wisdom on the viewer. This one is no exception. Here it is about ceilings and the dying. See the film to learn more.
The director says that the use of synchronized swimming is purposeful. That women-only sport is a metaphor for a girl's life: pretty and feminine on the surface while hard working and competitive underneath. A number of scenes drive this point: elegant moves and smiles for the public, legs kicking ungainly underwater. The title in French is also suggestive: "prieuve", or octopus, suggest an individual having to juggle many pressures simultaneously.
A Highly Promising Newcomer
JamesHitchcock7 October 2009
The significance of French title of this film, "La Naissance des Pieuvres" which literally means "The Birth of the Octopuses", is rather obscure, so it is perhaps not surprising that it has been marketed in English-speaking countries as "Water Lilies". The "lilies" of the English title are three teenage girls, Marie, Anne and Floriane, who are members of a synchronised swimming team based in the Paris suburbs, and the film is a "coming-of-age" drama about the development of their first sexual feelings.
One feature of the film, perhaps unusual for a film of this type, is that it concentrates exclusively on relationships between the young people themselves. We see nothing of their parents or their teachers, and very little of the adult world at all. The three girls are very different in appearance, and are portrayed as being very different in character. The shy, retiring Marie is slim and petite and appears to be the youngest of the three. Anne is something of a plain Jane, Floriane a glamorous blonde who is very popular with the boys. The three, together with a handsome male swimmer named Francois, are involved in what might be described as a love-quadrilateral.
Anne has fallen in love with Francois, but he is smitten with Floriane, who seems to return his affections, although he is by no means her only male admirer. Indeed, not all of Floriane's admirers are male, because Marie has a crush on her attractive friend. The film charts the way in which their friendship develops; at first it seems that Floriane is simply using Marie as a convenient excuse when she is in fact going out to meet boys; her parents presumably object to her dating boys, but have no objection to her going out with female friends. Later, however, we realise that, despite Floriane's image as the sexy, popular girl who is always the centre of male attention, she actually reciprocates Marie's feelings. The film reverses some conventional stereotypes about sexuality. Anne, with her short hair and rather chunky figure, looks typically "butch", yet she is the only one of the three main characters who is unambiguously heterosexual, whereas the more conventionally feminine Marie and the glamorous Floriane are lesbian, or at least bisexual.
Coming-of-age films are common enough, although most of them tend to avoid the controversial topic of teenage lesbianism. "Water Lilies", however, deals with its subject-matter in a sensitive way, with three very good performances from its three leading actresses, Pauline Acquart, Adele Haenel and Louise Blachere. The relationships between the characters, especially that between Marie and Floriane, are complex, and capable of a number of interpretations. (Is Floriane, for example, simply using Marie for sex, or does she genuinely have romantic feelings for her? Could Floriane's sluttish behaviour with Francois and the other boys be just a device to hide her lesbian feelings from the outside world? Or even to hide them from herself?) This was the first film made by its young director Celine Sciamma (only 27 at the time); on this basis she must be regarded as a highly promising newcomer. 7/10
One feature of the film, perhaps unusual for a film of this type, is that it concentrates exclusively on relationships between the young people themselves. We see nothing of their parents or their teachers, and very little of the adult world at all. The three girls are very different in appearance, and are portrayed as being very different in character. The shy, retiring Marie is slim and petite and appears to be the youngest of the three. Anne is something of a plain Jane, Floriane a glamorous blonde who is very popular with the boys. The three, together with a handsome male swimmer named Francois, are involved in what might be described as a love-quadrilateral.
Anne has fallen in love with Francois, but he is smitten with Floriane, who seems to return his affections, although he is by no means her only male admirer. Indeed, not all of Floriane's admirers are male, because Marie has a crush on her attractive friend. The film charts the way in which their friendship develops; at first it seems that Floriane is simply using Marie as a convenient excuse when she is in fact going out to meet boys; her parents presumably object to her dating boys, but have no objection to her going out with female friends. Later, however, we realise that, despite Floriane's image as the sexy, popular girl who is always the centre of male attention, she actually reciprocates Marie's feelings. The film reverses some conventional stereotypes about sexuality. Anne, with her short hair and rather chunky figure, looks typically "butch", yet she is the only one of the three main characters who is unambiguously heterosexual, whereas the more conventionally feminine Marie and the glamorous Floriane are lesbian, or at least bisexual.
Coming-of-age films are common enough, although most of them tend to avoid the controversial topic of teenage lesbianism. "Water Lilies", however, deals with its subject-matter in a sensitive way, with three very good performances from its three leading actresses, Pauline Acquart, Adele Haenel and Louise Blachere. The relationships between the characters, especially that between Marie and Floriane, are complex, and capable of a number of interpretations. (Is Floriane, for example, simply using Marie for sex, or does she genuinely have romantic feelings for her? Could Floriane's sluttish behaviour with Francois and the other boys be just a device to hide her lesbian feelings from the outside world? Or even to hide them from herself?) This was the first film made by its young director Celine Sciamma (only 27 at the time); on this basis she must be regarded as a highly promising newcomer. 7/10
Magnificent Film! - Extremely well made -
RockPortReview6 February 2010
Water Lilies 1/30/2010
This is an amazingly fearless movie that tackles issues no Hollywood studio would touch. "Water Lilies" is a French film that deals with the lives of three distinct teen female characters and their very real struggles. Set in the world of synchronized swimming, director Celine Sciamma takes you on a disturbingly honest depiction of the lives of modern teenage girls.
The sport of synchronized swimming is very similar to the internal struggles of each of the girls, with all of the furious action and kicking occurring just under the surface. Marie is a fifteen year old tom boyish girl that tends to keep to herself. She is short and is envious of the older more developed girls. She is best friends with the second main girl Anna. She is overweight and often resorts to childish behavior. She fears growing up and being alone. Then there is Floriane the hottest girl in school and captain of the swim team. All of these characters share many of the same problems and deal with them in very different ways. When Marie sees Floriane perform at a school swim meet she quickly becomes enamored with her. Her grace, beauty and popularity make most all the girls in school envious. Marie makes a deal with her so she can watch the team practice. In return Marie has to be the reason for Floriane to leave the house at night to hook up with random boys. Floriane seems to have everything under control and lives a perfect life, but we find out that can't be further from the truth. Her beauty makes her feel like an outsider, as she sticks out in a crowed. Other girls are jealous and mean to her, as she is looked upon as the school slut.
No matter who we are or how we look everybody has body image issues and this is further compounded by the popular media. Television, movies, and magazine mold young minds into thinking what is normal and what is acceptable. Anna and Floriane like the same guy, François. There a few scenes between Marie and Floriane that will make certain audiences extremely uncomfortable. That has developed a sort of controversy between groups of people. Some think that the film is nothing but a cheap exploitation of teen sex. Maybe there would be more of a basis for an argument if the film was made by a man, but it wasn't. Director Celine Sciamma looks to takes great care and sensitivity to the actors and the story. This film is not for everyone but you will get hooked by the likable true to life characters.
This is an amazingly fearless movie that tackles issues no Hollywood studio would touch. "Water Lilies" is a French film that deals with the lives of three distinct teen female characters and their very real struggles. Set in the world of synchronized swimming, director Celine Sciamma takes you on a disturbingly honest depiction of the lives of modern teenage girls.
The sport of synchronized swimming is very similar to the internal struggles of each of the girls, with all of the furious action and kicking occurring just under the surface. Marie is a fifteen year old tom boyish girl that tends to keep to herself. She is short and is envious of the older more developed girls. She is best friends with the second main girl Anna. She is overweight and often resorts to childish behavior. She fears growing up and being alone. Then there is Floriane the hottest girl in school and captain of the swim team. All of these characters share many of the same problems and deal with them in very different ways. When Marie sees Floriane perform at a school swim meet she quickly becomes enamored with her. Her grace, beauty and popularity make most all the girls in school envious. Marie makes a deal with her so she can watch the team practice. In return Marie has to be the reason for Floriane to leave the house at night to hook up with random boys. Floriane seems to have everything under control and lives a perfect life, but we find out that can't be further from the truth. Her beauty makes her feel like an outsider, as she sticks out in a crowed. Other girls are jealous and mean to her, as she is looked upon as the school slut.
No matter who we are or how we look everybody has body image issues and this is further compounded by the popular media. Television, movies, and magazine mold young minds into thinking what is normal and what is acceptable. Anna and Floriane like the same guy, François. There a few scenes between Marie and Floriane that will make certain audiences extremely uncomfortable. That has developed a sort of controversy between groups of people. Some think that the film is nothing but a cheap exploitation of teen sex. Maybe there would be more of a basis for an argument if the film was made by a man, but it wasn't. Director Celine Sciamma looks to takes great care and sensitivity to the actors and the story. This film is not for everyone but you will get hooked by the likable true to life characters.
Nothing new really but it's executed well all.
Boba_Fett113823 May 2009
These type of movies about young teenagers struggling with their own sexuality were something unique and daring and daring a couple of years ago but more and more movies like this got made over the past few years, making it hard for the movies to still stand out really.
Also this movie received little publicity, aside from the usual little film festivals that featured this little French movie, as well as the big festivals that are always fond of these type of little movies about everyday subjects that aren't being handled too often in movies. The film premiered at Cannes in 2007 and actually won some awards there as well.
The movie doesn't really stand out from others, since it actually features little new once you've already seen some similar movies such as this one but this however really doesn't mean that "Naissance des pieuvres" is a bad one to watch. The movie is certainly a good watch, that handles its subject well and tells its story steadily and therefore also effectively, in a typical somewhat slow French cinematic pace.
It's a coming of age movie, that focus on the life of mainly 3 totally different mid-teenagers. Sexuality is a big theme within the movie, which gets handled delicately and subtle. It makes the movie and its story overall a pretty realistic one, though perhaps a bit predictable, since the movie doesn't quite offer anything original enough within its genre.
This type of French movie will probably scare off a lot of people because of the reason that they probably expect it to be very arty, with deep layers and meanings to it. "Naissance des pieuvres" however is a very accessible movie for everyone and you really don't have to be into Euro-teen movies to appreciate this movie. It's a sweet and somewhat sensual kind of movie, due to its subject and visual approach.
The movie is also being made realistic by its actors, who don't had and have a lot of experience within the movie business but are authentic looking and feeling within their roles. The strong individual characters provide the movie with some nice themes and good moments.
A good movie on its subject.
7/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
Also this movie received little publicity, aside from the usual little film festivals that featured this little French movie, as well as the big festivals that are always fond of these type of little movies about everyday subjects that aren't being handled too often in movies. The film premiered at Cannes in 2007 and actually won some awards there as well.
The movie doesn't really stand out from others, since it actually features little new once you've already seen some similar movies such as this one but this however really doesn't mean that "Naissance des pieuvres" is a bad one to watch. The movie is certainly a good watch, that handles its subject well and tells its story steadily and therefore also effectively, in a typical somewhat slow French cinematic pace.
It's a coming of age movie, that focus on the life of mainly 3 totally different mid-teenagers. Sexuality is a big theme within the movie, which gets handled delicately and subtle. It makes the movie and its story overall a pretty realistic one, though perhaps a bit predictable, since the movie doesn't quite offer anything original enough within its genre.
This type of French movie will probably scare off a lot of people because of the reason that they probably expect it to be very arty, with deep layers and meanings to it. "Naissance des pieuvres" however is a very accessible movie for everyone and you really don't have to be into Euro-teen movies to appreciate this movie. It's a sweet and somewhat sensual kind of movie, due to its subject and visual approach.
The movie is also being made realistic by its actors, who don't had and have a lot of experience within the movie business but are authentic looking and feeling within their roles. The strong individual characters provide the movie with some nice themes and good moments.
A good movie on its subject.
7/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
The slow voyage to adulthood
LazySod9 April 2008
Also known as "Water Lilies" this film tells the story of two girls as they struggle their way into the world of love and sex. This story is told at a slow pace and that works very well. It gives plenty of time and space to get to know the different characters and to grow somewhat attached to them.
Using a small cast puts some extra pressure on the people playing as they all have some more screen time than normal but the people playing in this film handle that well. Everyone is completely believable. Visual setting is great, especially the underwater shots in the swimming pool add a nice effect.
Many films have been made about the same subject though and this one does not really stand out above any of them. It pulls some "standard" pressure methods out of the high hat and works on them. It isn't bad, not at all, but it surely isn't great either and I do feel it could have done better if it had taken some what less explored angles.
7 out of 10 synchronous swimmers
Using a small cast puts some extra pressure on the people playing as they all have some more screen time than normal but the people playing in this film handle that well. Everyone is completely believable. Visual setting is great, especially the underwater shots in the swimming pool add a nice effect.
Many films have been made about the same subject though and this one does not really stand out above any of them. It pulls some "standard" pressure methods out of the high hat and works on them. It isn't bad, not at all, but it surely isn't great either and I do feel it could have done better if it had taken some what less explored angles.
7 out of 10 synchronous swimmers
Viva adolescence! Backing to our forbidden Yesterdays
amir_rayatnazari18 August 2007
I saw it at Cinema MK2 Hautefeuille just one night after its first public projection in Paris. A very pretty film about three 15 years old teenagers, all of them just at about the same psychologically stages. Many of the scenes let us to come back to our adolescence age & our first feelings about sexual relations. it is possible to imagine that the director would like to reduce the first strong sensual feelings of the girls to lesbianism, but even in that case she doesn't corrupt the likelihood of the story. You can sometimes find the film a little slow but it is what creates this intimate atmosphere. I fund the young actresses of talent, special mention with Floriane and Marie, very convincing. There are many small details but this film also enabled me to discover what synchronized swimming is: impressing!
At Swim Three Birds
writers_reign29 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
In the areas where they overlap this fine movie is light years ahead of 2004s Innocence, which gave the impression of a rheumy eye and heavy breathing ogling young girls. Here the effect is much more realistic and really gets inside the heads of the three protagonists as they fumble their way through an adolescence riddled with pitfalls. The three principals, all unknown to me give very sure-footed performances, the kind, in fact, that may be so natural that it will be difficult for them to replicate this quality of acting in other films so I wouldn't be too surprised if they are not heard from again. It would be nice if this could get away from the Art Houses and into the Multiplexes where there's just an outside chance it might 'speak' to the bubblegum crowd it isn't aimed at.
Subtle french film about adolescence
jpblondeau11 March 2009
Not everything is said in this excellent first feature from Céline Sciamma. The friendship, the "wanting to fit in", the first sexual feelings... All this and much more is sublimated through the underwater synchro swimming scenes.
All three girls in the movie try to find and express their personality in a very different way. It is a much less violent approach to the understanding of the teenage years compared to, say, "Thirteen", but a very worthwhile trip nonetheless.
A must see, and please leave all American cinematographic preconceptions at he door. The soundtrack is A+ by the way.
Bon cinéma !
All three girls in the movie try to find and express their personality in a very different way. It is a much less violent approach to the understanding of the teenage years compared to, say, "Thirteen", but a very worthwhile trip nonetheless.
A must see, and please leave all American cinematographic preconceptions at he door. The soundtrack is A+ by the way.
Bon cinéma !
A Fine Psychological Study of the Vague and Uncertain Beginning of Sexual Feelings
scharnbergmax-se2 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The original title means "The Birth of the Octopuses". I must confess that I do not quite understand this title. The English title is "Water Lilies". But after having written this, I read the comment by another user: "The title in French is also suggestive: "prieuve", or octopus, suggest an individual having to juggle many pressures simultaneously." Thanks for your explanation.
The basic theme is the first sexual emotions of girls, when it is not clear if they are directed toward the same or the other sex. It is no different for boys. I think that both Floriane and Marie will eventually have heterosexual feelings without any admixtures.
Much of the movie is water ballet. Sometimes the girls will have their heads downwards, and nothing above the water except their feet and lowers legs, with which they will wave and kick in the air. To people like me who had never seen such things before, it was fascinating. - Floriane is the leader of one team of "water lilies".
Marie tells her that she would like to see when Floriane is training. This seems to be their first contact that is not just ordinary. Soon they will walk together. Floriane takes Marie to a garage where a boy is waiting for her, and then goes away with him for an hour, while Marie is waiting for her to return. I took for granted that the couple slept with each other. But we will later learn from the movie that they do less than that.
I can supply some information which few users will find elsewhere. There is a scene in which Marie secretly steals Floriane's garbage bag. In it she finds an apple, mostly eaten. And Marie proceeds to eat the rest. There is a parallel scene in another movie, "Kazetachi no gogo" (Afternoon Breezes) by Hitoshi Yazaki (Japan, 1980). This is about adult young females, and a clearly Lesbian woman is vainly in love with a heterosexual woman. She also steals a garbage bag of the beloved, and also finds a more or less eaten apple and eats the rest.
Later Floriane tells Marie that she would like to have her first orgasm from her. Marie says she cannot do this.
But still later Marie says that she is indeed willing to do it. And she masturbates on Floriane. There is no nudity in this scene.
Probably only a female director could have made such a fine psychological show or study of I would like to quote Baudelaire, "Les amours enfantines".
Floriane is played by Adèle Haenel, who made the excellent performance as the autistic girl in "The Little Devils" by Christophe Ruggia (2002) a very underrated movie.
The basic theme is the first sexual emotions of girls, when it is not clear if they are directed toward the same or the other sex. It is no different for boys. I think that both Floriane and Marie will eventually have heterosexual feelings without any admixtures.
Much of the movie is water ballet. Sometimes the girls will have their heads downwards, and nothing above the water except their feet and lowers legs, with which they will wave and kick in the air. To people like me who had never seen such things before, it was fascinating. - Floriane is the leader of one team of "water lilies".
Marie tells her that she would like to see when Floriane is training. This seems to be their first contact that is not just ordinary. Soon they will walk together. Floriane takes Marie to a garage where a boy is waiting for her, and then goes away with him for an hour, while Marie is waiting for her to return. I took for granted that the couple slept with each other. But we will later learn from the movie that they do less than that.
I can supply some information which few users will find elsewhere. There is a scene in which Marie secretly steals Floriane's garbage bag. In it she finds an apple, mostly eaten. And Marie proceeds to eat the rest. There is a parallel scene in another movie, "Kazetachi no gogo" (Afternoon Breezes) by Hitoshi Yazaki (Japan, 1980). This is about adult young females, and a clearly Lesbian woman is vainly in love with a heterosexual woman. She also steals a garbage bag of the beloved, and also finds a more or less eaten apple and eats the rest.
Later Floriane tells Marie that she would like to have her first orgasm from her. Marie says she cannot do this.
But still later Marie says that she is indeed willing to do it. And she masturbates on Floriane. There is no nudity in this scene.
Probably only a female director could have made such a fine psychological show or study of I would like to quote Baudelaire, "Les amours enfantines".
Floriane is played by Adèle Haenel, who made the excellent performance as the autistic girl in "The Little Devils" by Christophe Ruggia (2002) a very underrated movie.
Disturbing Age-Gap, Boring, Uninteresting Characters, But Good Performance by Adèle Haenel
dommercaldi12 June 2020
Pros:
1. The synchronized swimming scenes are well-choreographed and captivating to watch, especially the underwater scene near the beginning.
2. Adèle Haenel (Floriane) gives a really good performance, but was let down by the script.
Cons: 1. The lighting is often really flat, thus making the film visually unappealing. 2. The score, is at times, generic and is often used for cheap emotional manipulation. 3. Marie (Pauline Acquart) has nothing to her character aside from her desperate desire to get with Floriane. This makes it difficult to care about the events taking place. 4. The sub-plot featuring Anne (Louise Blachère) lusting after François (Warren Jacquin) is poorly-developed, needless, and uninteresting. 5. The movie is far too slow-paced, especially considering the lack of content. 6. The social commentary on slut-shaming and body positivity is jarringly inserted, and way too blunt. 7. The conflict, particularly between Marie and Anne, is terribly set-up, boring, and forced. 8. The sensual, lesbian-esque, scenes between Pauline Acquart and Adèle Haenel are uncomfortable and slightly disturbing to watch, as Pauline Acquart was 14 years old whereas Adèle Haenel was 18.
Cons: 1. The lighting is often really flat, thus making the film visually unappealing. 2. The score, is at times, generic and is often used for cheap emotional manipulation. 3. Marie (Pauline Acquart) has nothing to her character aside from her desperate desire to get with Floriane. This makes it difficult to care about the events taking place. 4. The sub-plot featuring Anne (Louise Blachère) lusting after François (Warren Jacquin) is poorly-developed, needless, and uninteresting. 5. The movie is far too slow-paced, especially considering the lack of content. 6. The social commentary on slut-shaming and body positivity is jarringly inserted, and way too blunt. 7. The conflict, particularly between Marie and Anne, is terribly set-up, boring, and forced. 8. The sensual, lesbian-esque, scenes between Pauline Acquart and Adèle Haenel are uncomfortable and slightly disturbing to watch, as Pauline Acquart was 14 years old whereas Adèle Haenel was 18.
Adolescence is a dive, not a swim
Fictitious31 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
If you were looking for some kind of voyeuristic, sexy, lesbian teen drama...zip up your pants because this isn't it. Or (for whatever reason) you were looking for a synchronized swimming movie, this isn't it either.
The plot is a familiar one: 3 very different teenage girls in a French suburb deal with their sexuality and the loss of innocence. I thought it was a brilliant touch to not include any parents or adults in this movie. There's no "unique" way to approach the subject matter because anyone who has ever been a teenager has lived through this movie...all the uncertainty, the awkwardness, the naivety, the myths of growing up. The whole point of a coming-of-age film is that its a predictable cliché...because that's exactly what adolescence is.
There's no unpretentious way to say this: Naissance des Pieuvres isn't a movie at all, it's a film. And a beautiful one, at that. There's this looseness about the way the movie rolls that feels so natural...it's what all coming-of-age films should be like. Another reviewer here mentioned that it had a very Sofia Coppola feel and that's exactly right. That feeling of dreamy teenage idleness is persistent and strangely keeps the film together.
There are few movies that make you feel like floating and sinking at the same time. Water Lilies did it for me. Every scene and every sound (the soundtrack is BRILLIANT) in this film was so deliberate and so beautifully acted.
If absolutely nothing convinces you, at least watch the last 5 minutes of this movie. I've replayed it at least a dozen times and I don't completely understand why. It's hypnotic and arguably one of the best movie endings of modern film.
9/10.
The plot is a familiar one: 3 very different teenage girls in a French suburb deal with their sexuality and the loss of innocence. I thought it was a brilliant touch to not include any parents or adults in this movie. There's no "unique" way to approach the subject matter because anyone who has ever been a teenager has lived through this movie...all the uncertainty, the awkwardness, the naivety, the myths of growing up. The whole point of a coming-of-age film is that its a predictable cliché...because that's exactly what adolescence is.
There's no unpretentious way to say this: Naissance des Pieuvres isn't a movie at all, it's a film. And a beautiful one, at that. There's this looseness about the way the movie rolls that feels so natural...it's what all coming-of-age films should be like. Another reviewer here mentioned that it had a very Sofia Coppola feel and that's exactly right. That feeling of dreamy teenage idleness is persistent and strangely keeps the film together.
There are few movies that make you feel like floating and sinking at the same time. Water Lilies did it for me. Every scene and every sound (the soundtrack is BRILLIANT) in this film was so deliberate and so beautifully acted.
If absolutely nothing convinces you, at least watch the last 5 minutes of this movie. I've replayed it at least a dozen times and I don't completely understand why. It's hypnotic and arguably one of the best movie endings of modern film.
9/10.
coming-of-age story
SnoopyStyle28 December 2015
Scrawny Marie (Pauline Acquart) and awkward chubby friend Anne (Louise Blachère) are standard outsiders. It's summer and they hang out at the pool watching the synchronized swimmers. Marie befriends beautiful Floriane (Adèle Haenel) who leads the swim team. Floriane is the subject of much gossip. Marie starts hanging out with Floriane putting pressure on her friendship with Anne. Meanwhile Anne is obsessed with hunky François.
It's a story of sexual searching and an awkward coming-of-age. There are a few daring scenes. I love when Marie and Anne have a fight. However the plot feels a bit too slight. It's too quiet and the danger is all internal. I want more conflicts. In the end, some stuff happens but they all end up in the same place.
It's a story of sexual searching and an awkward coming-of-age. There are a few daring scenes. I love when Marie and Anne have a fight. However the plot feels a bit too slight. It's too quiet and the danger is all internal. I want more conflicts. In the end, some stuff happens but they all end up in the same place.
Cynical film-maker betrays film and audience
madcardinal19 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I cheer for films that fill in subject matter gaps in world cinema. So after watching the trailer for "Water Lilies," I expected to like this film because I thought I'd stumbled on something unique: a movie that honestly portrays teen lesbian love - sort of a female version of "Beautiful Thing."
The main characters are young French women 15 years old. Marie is slender, reticent and pretty in a tomboyish way; Floriane is outgoing, athletic and beautiful; and Anne is loyal, pudgy and behaviorally immature. The erotic interrelationship between Marie and Floriane is always simmering in this movie, if not at the surface, then just below it.
"Water Lilies," however, is not about the dawning of lesbian love upon two teens; it is about sexual frustration, suffering, ennui, teens working at cross-purposes and - in at least two instances - joyless, mechanical sex. It also proves that screenwriters and film-makers mar their own creations when they become too manipulative.
In the extra features on the "Lord of the Flies" DVD, director Peter Brook says, "French cynicism starts with the arousal of sex," meaning the French regard children as angels while they regard adolescents and adults with a pervasive cynicism. Part of the downfall of this film is film-maker Celine Sciamma has gulped a mighty dose of this cynicism.
"Where is the joy?" I asked myself while watching this film. Yes, first love can be painful and frustrating, but it can also be joyful and triumphantly erotic in a fresh, life-affirming way. These positive aspects are missing from this movie; there is no balance.
Organically, this movie wants to be a poignant celebration of first love. But Sciamma is too impressed with her own cynicism and cleverness and ruins the film. First, what is the point of showing only the plump girl nude? I know there is an established tradition of tasteful teen nudity in European cinema, as evidenced by films like "The Slingshot; The Rascals; The Devil, Probably; The Little Thief; Murmur of the Heart; Friends; Beau Pere" and "Europa, Europa"; but this instance is a petty authorial intrusion - "See, audience, I can make a film where I show only the unattractive person nude." Either no nudity or evenly distributed nudity would've been an honest way to go.
There is a scene in a club where Floriane and Marie are dancing. What follows next is not just Floriane cynically manipulating Marie; it is film-maker Sciamma cynically manipulating her audience.
Perhaps the biggest betrayal of authenticity and organic honesty takes place when Floriane warns Marie she's about to request something that is "not normal." Marie understandably asks, "Who cares about being normal?" Then Sciamma plays false with her audience and the hurtling momentum of the movie, because Floriane's request is a phony, derivative and substitute question - not the authentic, heartfelt question the movie, Marie's character and the viewers who've invested their time deserve.
Here are also two moments which clank falsely on the viewer's nerves: 1) Since when do the French - of all people - take baths wearing bathing suits, and with a turtle to boot? 2) What teen - of any nationality - would chomp down on an apple core that's been thrown in the garbage in order to get a taste of the beloved's mouth?
The three main actresses are promising and, if they find better vehicles for their talents, may become excellent actors. Louise Blachere (Anne) is the best actress in terms of technique and could have a successful career in supporting roles. Adele Haenel (Floriane) could become a leading lady, or a bombshell, or both. Pauline Acquart (Marie) possesses an intensity and magnetism which are unmistakable. In the future, she could play everything from an emotionally crippled librarian to a mysteriously sensual seductress to a reluctant politician riding a meteoric rise in acclaim.
All in all, "Water Lilies" was very disappointing. Will an honest film-maker please make an authentic movie about two young women falling in love! No - not necessarily for the sake of this middle-aged guy - but so young lesbian girls can have something of quality they can watch and identify with. And yes, to fill a subject matter gap in world cinema.
The main characters are young French women 15 years old. Marie is slender, reticent and pretty in a tomboyish way; Floriane is outgoing, athletic and beautiful; and Anne is loyal, pudgy and behaviorally immature. The erotic interrelationship between Marie and Floriane is always simmering in this movie, if not at the surface, then just below it.
"Water Lilies," however, is not about the dawning of lesbian love upon two teens; it is about sexual frustration, suffering, ennui, teens working at cross-purposes and - in at least two instances - joyless, mechanical sex. It also proves that screenwriters and film-makers mar their own creations when they become too manipulative.
In the extra features on the "Lord of the Flies" DVD, director Peter Brook says, "French cynicism starts with the arousal of sex," meaning the French regard children as angels while they regard adolescents and adults with a pervasive cynicism. Part of the downfall of this film is film-maker Celine Sciamma has gulped a mighty dose of this cynicism.
"Where is the joy?" I asked myself while watching this film. Yes, first love can be painful and frustrating, but it can also be joyful and triumphantly erotic in a fresh, life-affirming way. These positive aspects are missing from this movie; there is no balance.
Organically, this movie wants to be a poignant celebration of first love. But Sciamma is too impressed with her own cynicism and cleverness and ruins the film. First, what is the point of showing only the plump girl nude? I know there is an established tradition of tasteful teen nudity in European cinema, as evidenced by films like "The Slingshot; The Rascals; The Devil, Probably; The Little Thief; Murmur of the Heart; Friends; Beau Pere" and "Europa, Europa"; but this instance is a petty authorial intrusion - "See, audience, I can make a film where I show only the unattractive person nude." Either no nudity or evenly distributed nudity would've been an honest way to go.
There is a scene in a club where Floriane and Marie are dancing. What follows next is not just Floriane cynically manipulating Marie; it is film-maker Sciamma cynically manipulating her audience.
Perhaps the biggest betrayal of authenticity and organic honesty takes place when Floriane warns Marie she's about to request something that is "not normal." Marie understandably asks, "Who cares about being normal?" Then Sciamma plays false with her audience and the hurtling momentum of the movie, because Floriane's request is a phony, derivative and substitute question - not the authentic, heartfelt question the movie, Marie's character and the viewers who've invested their time deserve.
Here are also two moments which clank falsely on the viewer's nerves: 1) Since when do the French - of all people - take baths wearing bathing suits, and with a turtle to boot? 2) What teen - of any nationality - would chomp down on an apple core that's been thrown in the garbage in order to get a taste of the beloved's mouth?
The three main actresses are promising and, if they find better vehicles for their talents, may become excellent actors. Louise Blachere (Anne) is the best actress in terms of technique and could have a successful career in supporting roles. Adele Haenel (Floriane) could become a leading lady, or a bombshell, or both. Pauline Acquart (Marie) possesses an intensity and magnetism which are unmistakable. In the future, she could play everything from an emotionally crippled librarian to a mysteriously sensual seductress to a reluctant politician riding a meteoric rise in acclaim.
All in all, "Water Lilies" was very disappointing. Will an honest film-maker please make an authentic movie about two young women falling in love! No - not necessarily for the sake of this middle-aged guy - but so young lesbian girls can have something of quality they can watch and identify with. And yes, to fill a subject matter gap in world cinema.
An exposé on the pressures of compulsory heterosexuality
DoINeedT011 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This was the first lesbian movie I watched. Or at least the first attempt at watching one was a young adolescent (I never got through the whole film the first time). But giving it a second go some 10 years later was a really interesting surprise. I picked up on things I definitely wouldn't have then.
The biggest qualm I have with the film is that the main character Marie is so boring, or at least extremely reserved and doesn't speak much, and I thought this made her very hard to connect to. Unfortunately the longing doe-eyed gazes into the distance don't make up for a lack of characterisation. There are many examples of good coming of age dramas with quiet protagonists but this one just doesn't give much for the audience to grab on to. I felt like there was so much more opportunity to get to know Marie, and in that sense, the other two main characters, Anne and Floriane seemed more like the protagonists in a way.
Aside from that what I most enjoyed and relished was the complexities of female sexuality that were explored, especially compulsory heterosexuality (otherwise known as comp-het). I have never seen a film do this before in such a subtle yet powerful way. In my reading of the film, both Marie and Floriane are lesbian, but cannot act upon it or even admit this to themselves, Floriane especially. The film perfectly captures the pressures of young female sexuality and how it intersects with queerness. The girls all appear to believe and take for granted that heterosexual, penetrative sex is obligatory and a rite of passage (and who wouldn't, since this is what society makes young girls internalise). The way the girls use sex or the lack of it to shame each other is true to life and the games that are played. It's very painful to have to watch Floriane grapple with her desires in a homophobic or at least hetero-normative society where she maybe cannot be true to herself; she doesn't want to sleep with guys yet feels like she has to do it like a clinical a chore. The scene where Marie "takes Floriane's virginity" really speaks to how much the notion of virginity is taken as a gospel truth and the lack of education for young people about sex and most fundamentally: pleasure. It was sad but understandable why she was so manipulative with not only the boys she showed interest in, but also Marie in public, while in private the two girls were able to be themselves. The scene where they are sitting on the steps looking over a lake was very poignant and Floriane telling Marie that she's very lucky not to have a story of unwanted sexual advances, women and non-binary people know this all too well.
I really loved Anne's character, her almost mad and compulsive drives to get a boy to like her felt true and sympathetic. I would have given the film a higher score, had it not been let down by the way Marie carried the the film. (Not related to the scoring, but I couldn't get out of my head how much Marie looked like Kalki Koechlin).
The biggest qualm I have with the film is that the main character Marie is so boring, or at least extremely reserved and doesn't speak much, and I thought this made her very hard to connect to. Unfortunately the longing doe-eyed gazes into the distance don't make up for a lack of characterisation. There are many examples of good coming of age dramas with quiet protagonists but this one just doesn't give much for the audience to grab on to. I felt like there was so much more opportunity to get to know Marie, and in that sense, the other two main characters, Anne and Floriane seemed more like the protagonists in a way.
Aside from that what I most enjoyed and relished was the complexities of female sexuality that were explored, especially compulsory heterosexuality (otherwise known as comp-het). I have never seen a film do this before in such a subtle yet powerful way. In my reading of the film, both Marie and Floriane are lesbian, but cannot act upon it or even admit this to themselves, Floriane especially. The film perfectly captures the pressures of young female sexuality and how it intersects with queerness. The girls all appear to believe and take for granted that heterosexual, penetrative sex is obligatory and a rite of passage (and who wouldn't, since this is what society makes young girls internalise). The way the girls use sex or the lack of it to shame each other is true to life and the games that are played. It's very painful to have to watch Floriane grapple with her desires in a homophobic or at least hetero-normative society where she maybe cannot be true to herself; she doesn't want to sleep with guys yet feels like she has to do it like a clinical a chore. The scene where Marie "takes Floriane's virginity" really speaks to how much the notion of virginity is taken as a gospel truth and the lack of education for young people about sex and most fundamentally: pleasure. It was sad but understandable why she was so manipulative with not only the boys she showed interest in, but also Marie in public, while in private the two girls were able to be themselves. The scene where they are sitting on the steps looking over a lake was very poignant and Floriane telling Marie that she's very lucky not to have a story of unwanted sexual advances, women and non-binary people know this all too well.
I really loved Anne's character, her almost mad and compulsive drives to get a boy to like her felt true and sympathetic. I would have given the film a higher score, had it not been let down by the way Marie carried the the film. (Not related to the scoring, but I couldn't get out of my head how much Marie looked like Kalki Koechlin).
J'aime les pays ou ils marient les filles a 14 ans
Ladiloque12 April 2022
A fascinating and indiscreet look into a summer for 3 teen girls synchronizing with the world, discovering their sexual drives and staying afloat while doing silly things. "A la Rohmer" someone might think: I partly agree but this first feature by Sciamma, proves to be much more modern, interesting and unwilling to indulge in exhausting blabla.
Yet a direction with some flaws - mainly in terms of pace and scene delivery - and a script with a lot of weak points - among which some weird behaviour by the characters and a general lack of realism (e.g. A. Haenel's character is too "old", experienced and pretty to be spending her time with P. Acquart's character). While the stylish choice of having adolescents apparently living without parents and doing the hell they like (surprisingly without the involvement of alcohol or drugs) might not be a problem, lots of other things don't really add up (and they don't seem all meant to show a fantasy world seen from the unexperienced eyes of our protagonists).
Hard to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with the execution of the storyline, but something is defintely off. Pity, because lots of scenes are quite suggestive despite their apparent simplicity. Wisely the writer/director decided that the lenght of 80mins was fine: going further might have turned the already mostly uneventful plot into a chore.
Great acting by all the young actors, with an especially good job by all the 3 main actresses.
Very good music by de Laubier at his first major work in cinema.
Yet a direction with some flaws - mainly in terms of pace and scene delivery - and a script with a lot of weak points - among which some weird behaviour by the characters and a general lack of realism (e.g. A. Haenel's character is too "old", experienced and pretty to be spending her time with P. Acquart's character). While the stylish choice of having adolescents apparently living without parents and doing the hell they like (surprisingly without the involvement of alcohol or drugs) might not be a problem, lots of other things don't really add up (and they don't seem all meant to show a fantasy world seen from the unexperienced eyes of our protagonists).
Hard to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with the execution of the storyline, but something is defintely off. Pity, because lots of scenes are quite suggestive despite their apparent simplicity. Wisely the writer/director decided that the lenght of 80mins was fine: going further might have turned the already mostly uneventful plot into a chore.
Great acting by all the young actors, with an especially good job by all the 3 main actresses.
Very good music by de Laubier at his first major work in cinema.
A primer on the role of power in relationships
dolive-578-56498714 March 2020
A superb film just as angedelamort ably describes it.
I would add that it's in part a story of how the young women manipulate each other. Because the director is a master of minimalism, our attention is forcefully drawn to how the characters extend and withhold affection. This "power dynamic" exists in every relationship, to varying degree, and we get a tutorial on it here. With due respect to Coppola, whose Lost in Translation is a minor masterpiece, this film doesn't drag. There's something interesting in every shot, the pacing is just right, and you come away caring about these characters for a long time, wondering what's next for them.
Now the breast stroke!
rmax30482326 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It sounds as if it should be a biography of Claude Monet but it's actually a highly focused story of relationships between three adolescent girls on a French synchronized swimming team. There are no parents or teachers to speak of, no school, and boys are represented by one peripheral figure, the hunky Francois who enters the story determined from time to time and always leaves confused.
Pauline Aquart is the youngest of the three, only aspiring to join the team she so much admires. She's kind of odd looking. She's not yet out of her adolescent growth spurt and has long, bony limbs, big feet, and no derriere to speak of. She's prognathous and sports these plump pursed lips. After a while her appearance grows on you and from certain angles she can come to appear enthralling.
Adele Haenel is older -- more, well, more developed physically. What a glamorous figure she cuts in her swim suit, sauntering around, teasing the boys, swishing her long blond hair. But she's not what she seems. Or is she? I couldn't quite figure it out. The French are long on paradoxes and short on consistency. No wonder Francois is always sniffing after her.
There's not so much ambiguity in Louse Blachere's character. She's on the team too but she's dumpy and plain, and sensitive about it, and has an intense crush on Francois. Blachere is a good actress and adds to the ungainliness of the character through her performance.
The movie deals with the relationships between these three, meaning intrigues, deceptions, hidden feelings, and all the rest of what we associate with young girls who spend much time with one another. This is of course a tricky topic. It becomes trickier during the gradual development of a homoerotic relationship between Pauline and Adele. Not that you should expect this to be a soft porn movie. The only nudity we see is considerably less than a turn on, and what little sex there is under the covers, sometimes literally.
I don't think I want to get into the plot or into its analysis too much, partly because it's suggestive rather than expressed through action, partly because it's complex, and partly because I'm not sure I got it all.
Let me give an example. Okay. Adele is the girl the others envy. She's also quite distant and self satisfied. On top of that she is apparently schtupping every boy and man in sight if they can be of any use to her at all, from the handsome but dumb Francois to the bus driver she wants a favor from. She brags unashamedly about her expertise in fellatio. When Pauline approaches her about joining the swim team, Adele uses her as a lookout during assignations with the guys. A superior and self-indulgent narcissist, you know? But then the soi-disant slut takes the skinny Pauline under her wing and reveals to Pauline that she's still a virgin. Really? Yes, really. Pauline begins to draw closer to Adele and Adele finally confesses that she'd like to rid herself of her hymen and she would like Pauline to do it for her. Pauline, now drawn sexually to Adele, performs the task with subdued relish. NOW Adele would REALLY like to get it on with a man, preferably older and experienced. So she takes Pauline to a boite where she dances seductively with some guy until she follows Pauline to the powder room. The two girls stand there staring at one another, neither having overtly expressed a sexually tinged interest in the other. But Adele stands so close that Pauline slowly loosens her own reins, reaches up, and kisses Adele on the lips. Adele steps back, smiling, and says, "There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?", and then walks back into the club.
That's a pretty close description of whatever is going on between Pauline and Adele -- but what the hell IS going on? Initially, Adele treats Pauline like an irrelevant child, later like a close friend, finally like a potential lover -- and the minute Pauline responds, Adele walks off satisfied. Is she USING Pauline the way she seems to be using men? Does it satisfy Adele to know that she now has another person in involuntary servitude? I don't know.
I've slighted Louise Blachere as the third member of the trio, the plain and overripe wallflower whose expression always suggests dumbfoundedness but who at least is thoroughly heterosexual and the first of the three to rid herself of that noisome virginity, but I've only skipped her for considerations of space.
Should you see it? By all means. (Just compare it to the typical American movie about high school kids.) For men, some of whom have never penetrated the female mystique, this may give you some idea of what it looks like in medium shot.
Pauline Aquart is the youngest of the three, only aspiring to join the team she so much admires. She's kind of odd looking. She's not yet out of her adolescent growth spurt and has long, bony limbs, big feet, and no derriere to speak of. She's prognathous and sports these plump pursed lips. After a while her appearance grows on you and from certain angles she can come to appear enthralling.
Adele Haenel is older -- more, well, more developed physically. What a glamorous figure she cuts in her swim suit, sauntering around, teasing the boys, swishing her long blond hair. But she's not what she seems. Or is she? I couldn't quite figure it out. The French are long on paradoxes and short on consistency. No wonder Francois is always sniffing after her.
There's not so much ambiguity in Louse Blachere's character. She's on the team too but she's dumpy and plain, and sensitive about it, and has an intense crush on Francois. Blachere is a good actress and adds to the ungainliness of the character through her performance.
The movie deals with the relationships between these three, meaning intrigues, deceptions, hidden feelings, and all the rest of what we associate with young girls who spend much time with one another. This is of course a tricky topic. It becomes trickier during the gradual development of a homoerotic relationship between Pauline and Adele. Not that you should expect this to be a soft porn movie. The only nudity we see is considerably less than a turn on, and what little sex there is under the covers, sometimes literally.
I don't think I want to get into the plot or into its analysis too much, partly because it's suggestive rather than expressed through action, partly because it's complex, and partly because I'm not sure I got it all.
Let me give an example. Okay. Adele is the girl the others envy. She's also quite distant and self satisfied. On top of that she is apparently schtupping every boy and man in sight if they can be of any use to her at all, from the handsome but dumb Francois to the bus driver she wants a favor from. She brags unashamedly about her expertise in fellatio. When Pauline approaches her about joining the swim team, Adele uses her as a lookout during assignations with the guys. A superior and self-indulgent narcissist, you know? But then the soi-disant slut takes the skinny Pauline under her wing and reveals to Pauline that she's still a virgin. Really? Yes, really. Pauline begins to draw closer to Adele and Adele finally confesses that she'd like to rid herself of her hymen and she would like Pauline to do it for her. Pauline, now drawn sexually to Adele, performs the task with subdued relish. NOW Adele would REALLY like to get it on with a man, preferably older and experienced. So she takes Pauline to a boite where she dances seductively with some guy until she follows Pauline to the powder room. The two girls stand there staring at one another, neither having overtly expressed a sexually tinged interest in the other. But Adele stands so close that Pauline slowly loosens her own reins, reaches up, and kisses Adele on the lips. Adele steps back, smiling, and says, "There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?", and then walks back into the club.
That's a pretty close description of whatever is going on between Pauline and Adele -- but what the hell IS going on? Initially, Adele treats Pauline like an irrelevant child, later like a close friend, finally like a potential lover -- and the minute Pauline responds, Adele walks off satisfied. Is she USING Pauline the way she seems to be using men? Does it satisfy Adele to know that she now has another person in involuntary servitude? I don't know.
I've slighted Louise Blachere as the third member of the trio, the plain and overripe wallflower whose expression always suggests dumbfoundedness but who at least is thoroughly heterosexual and the first of the three to rid herself of that noisome virginity, but I've only skipped her for considerations of space.
Should you see it? By all means. (Just compare it to the typical American movie about high school kids.) For men, some of whom have never penetrated the female mystique, this may give you some idea of what it looks like in medium shot.
I find this movie hard to talk about.
GiraffeDoor10 December 2019
A mystical and intensely eerie take on the coming age movie.
Kind of reminded me of Black Swan though there is no movie quite like it; the hypnotic, even dreamlike visual style captures lyricism and moroseness that play off each other.
It's a secret world of the girl, removed from the prying eyes of parents or guardians who don't appear at all, on a warped personal journey in pursuit of beauty and mutual love but does it all in such a breezy way that cuts out all the stuff that makes Lifetime movies insufferable.
I suggest watching it alone.
Kind of reminded me of Black Swan though there is no movie quite like it; the hypnotic, even dreamlike visual style captures lyricism and moroseness that play off each other.
It's a secret world of the girl, removed from the prying eyes of parents or guardians who don't appear at all, on a warped personal journey in pursuit of beauty and mutual love but does it all in such a breezy way that cuts out all the stuff that makes Lifetime movies insufferable.
I suggest watching it alone.
Teen Angst
billcr1231 July 2012
Teen dramas usually deal with the cruelty of boys; Water Lilies shows that girls can be equally vicious with each other. Fifteen year olds, Anne, the fat and lonely kid is always present, going back to the victim in Lord of the Flies, whose glasses are broken by the sadists he is trapped on an island with. Marie is the one searching for love, and seems to find it with Floriane, the blossoming beauty who looks like trouble from the start.
The three first meet at a swimming pool and become involved with a synchronized swim team; thus the title, Water Lilies. The typical adolescent angst follows, with laughter and tears and fights. It is also the story of sexual awakening and discovery, in the typical laid back European fashion. The film could not have been made here in America, with its' uptight views on human sexuality.
Nothing groundbreaking occurs, the three girls go through the routine troubles of high school students everywhere. The actresses are good and the script passable, for a rating of 6/10.
The three first meet at a swimming pool and become involved with a synchronized swim team; thus the title, Water Lilies. The typical adolescent angst follows, with laughter and tears and fights. It is also the story of sexual awakening and discovery, in the typical laid back European fashion. The film could not have been made here in America, with its' uptight views on human sexuality.
Nothing groundbreaking occurs, the three girls go through the routine troubles of high school students everywhere. The actresses are good and the script passable, for a rating of 6/10.
Lame
queenehlana17 August 2011
I've seen more than a dozen lesbian films. This is the worst one, probably. Or at least the most boring. I can see how it could interest someone who has puberty on their mind or wants perhaps to commiserate with some lameness that happened in their own life. But it's just a basically quiet film, not much is said, reminds me of how boring my teen years were... when I had nothing to say because I knew nothing. Don't waste your time on this if you are at all picky with your movies. I gave it a rating of 1 star, and I haven't given any other film that rating, not even When Night Is Falling, which in some ways is worse. The rating is based on how worth watching it is. If you are looking for fun entertainment, definitely avoid this.
Director Céline Sciamma's Made An Amazing Debut
jordiojoystar1 January 2014
Screenwriter Céline Sciamma made her first debut as director in this film, opening up various opportunities to explore the storyline and future projects.
Pauline Acquart and Louise Blachère shows their efforts grabbing the audiences in full attention.
The relationships revolved within a local swimming pool in a Parisian suburb where the local synchronized swimming team practices.
The story encounters Marie (Pauline Acquart)and Blonde Floriane (Adele Haenel), both skilled swimmer and athlete with raging hormones. And doing things like many teenagers would do.
Naissance des Pieuvres, literally translated means The Birth of Octopi, is described as one of the slipperiest teenage drama.
Pauline Acquart and Louise Blachère shows their efforts grabbing the audiences in full attention.
The relationships revolved within a local swimming pool in a Parisian suburb where the local synchronized swimming team practices.
The story encounters Marie (Pauline Acquart)and Blonde Floriane (Adele Haenel), both skilled swimmer and athlete with raging hormones. And doing things like many teenagers would do.
Naissance des Pieuvres, literally translated means The Birth of Octopi, is described as one of the slipperiest teenage drama.
Good but aimless
digdilem20 May 2010
I liked this. The camera work, acting and studies were very good.
The characters were distinct and true to form throughout, showing young love and the complications that brings. Actual nudity fairly minimal despite the erotic theme, but that eroticism is carried through quite skillfully, never overstepping the mark into porn and maintaining interest in what would otherwise be fairly dull scenes.
Motives are mostly feelings and expressed in the truly clumsy way of adolescents.
My only real criticism is only that it has no ending to speak of. The story is minimal and conveys more of a feeling of a time in peoples lives rather than a story by itself. A snapshot of feelings and in that it succeeds well.
The characters were distinct and true to form throughout, showing young love and the complications that brings. Actual nudity fairly minimal despite the erotic theme, but that eroticism is carried through quite skillfully, never overstepping the mark into porn and maintaining interest in what would otherwise be fairly dull scenes.
Motives are mostly feelings and expressed in the truly clumsy way of adolescents.
My only real criticism is only that it has no ending to speak of. The story is minimal and conveys more of a feeling of a time in peoples lives rather than a story by itself. A snapshot of feelings and in that it succeeds well.
French Lesbian Coming of Age
scarlettwyrtzen5 November 2021
I...
So I kept seeing people edit this move on instagram and be like, "This movie is good."
So I found it, and watched it with no subtitles because the version I used was on Youtube.
I think that this movie would have been better if it wasn't just a cycle, and if it moved faster. I was dissatisfied with the same cycle of Marie getting jealous, and then like TRYING to reveal her feelings. Plus, the "chubby" girls story line could've been MUCH for detailed and interesting, instead of disappointing, (SHE JUST SPIT ON HIM?) Marie's character was annoying to a point, but I think the film really nailed down that "Pubescent Tween" kinda thing!
Oh!-and the cinematography was mildly UNentertaining, all those side shots?
The things I did like about it... hmm, the color scheme was pretty cool, the character development was AMAZING (kinda), and the storyline was okay-ish.
I give a 5/10.
I think that this movie would have been better if it wasn't just a cycle, and if it moved faster. I was dissatisfied with the same cycle of Marie getting jealous, and then like TRYING to reveal her feelings. Plus, the "chubby" girls story line could've been MUCH for detailed and interesting, instead of disappointing, (SHE JUST SPIT ON HIM?) Marie's character was annoying to a point, but I think the film really nailed down that "Pubescent Tween" kinda thing!
Oh!-and the cinematography was mildly UNentertaining, all those side shots?
The things I did like about it... hmm, the color scheme was pretty cool, the character development was AMAZING (kinda), and the storyline was okay-ish.
I give a 5/10.
Languid and heartfelt, but ultimately disappointing
jeremy corbett UK22 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Score of 7/10 is for the great sound and cinematography in this movie, and for the casting the three girl leads. I also loved the Parisian suburb settings, which seemed as fresh to this casual viewer as they are in all probability dull and claustrophobic to their actual residents. The floaty and unreal feeling of a summer vacation from school is also nicely evoked. These are all high points in a film which is thematically about the confused and confusing desires and adolescent resentments of young girls on the cusp of sexual ripeness.
The unfamiliar milieu of synchronised swimming is used well for the first 30 minutes, as the film introduces intense Marie's head-over-heels infatuation at the sight of a swim-suited blonde Floriane, and then follows her attempts to get closer to the object of her desire by joining the girls team. Marie gets to watch them practice from underwater, holding her breath to see their legs thrashing wildly in unison, and this sequence, followed by her gasping and breathless shower scene immediately afterward are both memorable. Unfortunately, the story becomes something of a 'love' triangle, played out between brooding Marie, lissom and desirable Floriane, and jejune Anne, who is the most introspective but curiously the most interesting character. Good but never exceptional acting from all three young actresses makes the film much more engaging than it has any right to be, as do the scenes of adolescent ennui around the Parisian estate where the girls all live.
But the sum of all this is ultimately disappointing and like a few of the previous contributors, I detected in proceedings the hand of the writer / director, reaching for profundity. In telling her story, Sciamma reduces the boys to casual ciphers, inexplicably under-uses all the other girls in the swimming team, and sadly, when Marie breaks her (prodigious) silences, we hear the cynical words of an adult, not those of a confused and inexperienced adolescent.
But I would recommend a watch, I just can't promise that your life will be different for doing so.
The unfamiliar milieu of synchronised swimming is used well for the first 30 minutes, as the film introduces intense Marie's head-over-heels infatuation at the sight of a swim-suited blonde Floriane, and then follows her attempts to get closer to the object of her desire by joining the girls team. Marie gets to watch them practice from underwater, holding her breath to see their legs thrashing wildly in unison, and this sequence, followed by her gasping and breathless shower scene immediately afterward are both memorable. Unfortunately, the story becomes something of a 'love' triangle, played out between brooding Marie, lissom and desirable Floriane, and jejune Anne, who is the most introspective but curiously the most interesting character. Good but never exceptional acting from all three young actresses makes the film much more engaging than it has any right to be, as do the scenes of adolescent ennui around the Parisian estate where the girls all live.
But the sum of all this is ultimately disappointing and like a few of the previous contributors, I detected in proceedings the hand of the writer / director, reaching for profundity. In telling her story, Sciamma reduces the boys to casual ciphers, inexplicably under-uses all the other girls in the swimming team, and sadly, when Marie breaks her (prodigious) silences, we hear the cynical words of an adult, not those of a confused and inexperienced adolescent.
But I would recommend a watch, I just can't promise that your life will be different for doing so.
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