Cold Showers
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| Cold Showers | |
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 Cold Showers film poster |
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| Directed by | Antony Cordier |
| Produced by | Pascal Caucheteux, Sébastien Lemercier |
| Written by | Antony Cordier, Julie Peyr |
| Starring | Johan Libéreau, Salomé Stévenin, Pierre Perrier |
| Distributed by | Bac Films (France) |
| Release date(s) | 22 May 2005 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Language | French |
| IMDb profile | |
Cold Showers (Douches froides) is a 2005 film directed by Antony Cordier. It is a Directors' Fortnight Selection at 2005 Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of three teenagers who face changes and problems in the period of three months as they enter adulthood.
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[edit] Plot
The story of three teenagers: a girl, Vanessa, and two boys, Mickael and Clement, one rich, one poor.
Contains some male and female full frontal nudity.
'Douches froides' ('Cold Showers') is a French film by Antony Cordier, of which the marketing in the United States (not in France) has been directed to a gay audience. However, the film is not specifically 'gay'. Instead COLD SHOWERS is an examination of class, sport, experimentation, and emotional borderlines that are at once fascinating and frustrating.
Mickael (Johan Libereau) is from a poor working class family - his father Gérard (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey) is a boozer taxi cab driver who lost his license as a result of a DUI, and his mother Annie (Florence Thomassin) is a cleaning woman in the high school gym: they live on the edge of poverty. Not a great student, Mickael excels in judo and his life is focused on his sport and on his girlfriend Vanessa (Salomé Stévenin). One of Mickael's teammates Clément (Pierre Perrier) is from a wealthy family: his father Louis Steiner (Aurelien Recoing) is confined to a wheelchair and his mother Mathilde (Claire Nebout) is a woman of the world and society. Louis decides to sponsor the judo team, buys them outfits, and asks Mickael to work with Clement to perfect his technique and prepare the judo team for a French championship.
Mickael and Clément relate well and while Mickael is a winning player, Clément is smarter and understands the intrinsic rules of the game better. An incident occurs that forces Mickael to take the position of a wounded mate and in doing so he must lose 8 kilos to qualify for the championship team. The struggle to lose weight (his body is already perfect) places stress on both Mickael and his family and teammates. Mickael and Vanessa include Clément in their camaraderie, a situation which evolves into a ménage a trois as the three have sex in the after hours gym. Vanessa reacts as though this is the greatest physical feeling ever, Clément is smitten, and Mickael has troubling doubts. When the three decide to try it again in a hotel room Mickael is so conflicted that he does not join the other two, only listening to their cavorting in the bathtub feeling inferior to the smarter, wealthier Clément. But on the judo side, the team plays the championship and Mickael's delicate sense of self worth is restored for a moment. It is the manner in which the trio of young adolescents resolves their antics that closes the film.
Though the actors are superb and very beautiful to see and hear, the character development is fuzzy and we are left with little understanding or insight as to the each of the key players. The judo action moments are beautifully choreographed and the intimacy scenes are done with taste and fine lighting but with little passion conveyed. Though we want to identify with Mickael and his methods of confronting his coming of age, there just isn't enough character motivation to make that transference entirely successful. This film feels like two movies: a judo team's antics and a class-crossed ménage a trois. Beautiful to watch, but the script could have been more carefully constructed.
[edit] Cast
- Johan Libéreau – Mickael
- Salomé Stévenin – Vanessa
- Florence Thomassin – Annie
- Jean-Philippe Ecoffey – Gérard
- Aurélien Recoing – Louis Steiner
- Claire Nebout – Mathilde Steiner
- Pierre Perrier – Clément
- Denis Falgoux – the coach
- Magali Woch – Mickael's sister
- Camille Japy – coach's wife
- Dominique Cabrera – the nurse in school
- Sarah Pratt – the examiner
- Julie Boulanger – Valentine
[edit] Trivia
- Salomé Stévenin is the daughter of a famous french actor and director, Jean-François Stévenin (Mountain pass, Double gentlemen, Mischka)
- The nurse in school is played by a famous french director, Dominique Cabrera (The other shore, The milk of human kindness)
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack for this film contains songs by Julie Delpy and Galt MacDermot. The score is composed by Nicolas Lemercier. The main song of the film is called "Central Park".
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Nominated:
- Best First Film
Prix Louis Delluc
- Won
- Best First Film
Taipei International Film Festival
- Won:
- Grand Prize
Verona International Film Festival
- Won:
- Grand Prize
Marseille Film Festival
- Won:
- Critic Prize
French Press Golden Star
- Won:
- Best First Film
French Syndicate of Cinema Critics
- Won:
- Best Promising Actor - Johan Libéreau
Moulins Film Festival
- Won:
- Best Actress - Florence Thomassin
La Ciotat Film Festival
- Won:
- Best Actress - Salomé Stévenin
