Water Lilies - Der Liebe auf der Spur

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

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.

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.

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!

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.