Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) is a French film with English-subtitles that follows three teenage girls coming-of-age over the course of a Summer.
Marie (Pauline Acquart) and Anne (Louise Blachere) are childhood friends that seem very different. Outwardly as well as inwardly. Although they are fifteen, Marie is mousy and petite with the body of a twelve year old. Anne has had breasts since elementary school and is slightly chubby. She could pass for an adult. Marie is somber and watchful, while Anne seems child-like at times. Their friendship encounters some strain as each of them start to experience their sexuality, which manifests itself differently.
Anne is hot for a boy named Francois (Warren Jacquin). Marie develops an attraction for a girl, Floriane (Adele Haenel). As fate would have it, Francois has a thing for Floriane, who is confused about her own sexuality. I have heard of a love triangle, but I guess this would be a love rectangle. The film focuses on the brooding Marie, tying the film together through her relationships and exploring the concept of awakening sexuality through different eyes. The film allows friendship to survive the tribulations of coming-of-age with a simple plain ending.
Water Liliestakes its name from the setting, which is a swimming pool that hosts water ballet teams. Floriane is on the team and gets Marie into the practices and competitions. If I can indulge myself, the tone of this swimming pool film is...reflective. Go ahead and groan...but it is an apt description. The film relies on strong visual story-telling over dialogue. There are often long stretches of film that contain images and background noise, but no speaking. The visual themes create a very ruminative tone.
Visual stories can be told through physical expressions (non-verbal gestures or facial expressions), they can be conveyed through powerful images of inanimate objects, or they can be projected through actions. Water Lilies uses both expressions and actions to convey meaning. For instance, there is a scene where one character eats garbage. The scene has intrinsic meaning without needing explanation. The visual aspects of the film surpassed the story, which was standard fare.
What dialogue Water Lilies did have was also very contemplative. For a story that doesn't waste words, the dialogue made good use of the ones it employed. There is an exchange between two characters who are laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. One of the characters muses that ninety percent of all people probably die on their back, with the ceiling being the last thing they see. The character then states that it is certain that the last thing a person sees is forever printed on the inside of their eyelids. Leading to the obvious question of how many dead people have ceilings printed on the inside of their eyelids. Reflective. Weird, but interesting.
I'm not sure how old the actors were in Water Lilies, but I am certain that child pornography laws would not permit any illegal material from passing, indicating that the girls are older than the characters they play. One of the girls does two fully nude scenes and one non-nudity sex scene. The other two girls do not show any nudity. The main theme of this film is sexual awakening, which would seem to dictate an older audience (mid to late teens). The three girls are the primary actors and do a good job of creating the age category they are playing (assuming they are a bit older). The lack of dialogue dictated that the performances would require strong physical (expressive) performances, which is what we get from this film. Not extraordinary, but solid. This film would be rated R, if it were rated by the MPAA. The run time is one hour, 25 minutes.
Water Lilies doesn't provide a lot in the way of plot. What it lacks in plot it makes up for in texture. The rich visual aspects of the film and pensive sententious dialogue create a vivid experience for the audience. The characters connect through their expressions and actions which are sometimes easier to identify with than others. I like a good story and I like a story told well. This story is told well, but lacks any real substance. It seemed to be about reflection, which is great...but only whets your appetite. I would mildly recommend this film. 6/10.
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