Cold Water (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (October 2007)

Written and directed by Olivier Assayas,Cold Water (in French: "L'eau froide") is a 1994 French film about two troubled teenagers in France during the early 1970's. It was recently (October, 2007) screened at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, Calif., where Assayas spent a week in residence introducing and discussing his films with the audiences there. He was accompanied by his friend Jean-Michel Frodon, the current director of the journal Cahiers du Cinema, of which Assayas was once the director. Assayas said the film is autobiographical, reflecting upon his own teenage years. He went out of his way to cast actors who were not professionals or who, as in the case of male lead Cyprien Fouquet (playing Gilles), had never acted before. However, female lead Virginie Ledoyen (playing Christine) had some film experience. The film was the result of a commission from French TV, which wanted a 52-minute film but allowed Assayas to make a longer version, after some negotiations.

Gilles and Christine are attractive, sexually-active teenagers from disturbed homes. When they do some shop-lifting together, she is arrested, but he gets away. She escapes from a mental institution and meets him at an abandoned house in the country, where a large group of rebellious teenagers are having a wild, all-night party. American rock music from the period is played prominently and has a very strong effect, especially "Me and Bobby McGee," sung by Janis Joplin. Drugs are used, mainly pot and hash. As the party is winding down, Gilles and Christine escape even deeper into the countryside, searching for a commune where artists are said to live without electricity or running water. This is Christine's idea, but Gilles reluctantly goes along. A jolting conclusion shows us that, as Assayas puts it, "Gilles' real life has now begun."

An amazingly versatile director who works in several different styles, Assayas here paints a remarkably realistic portrait of young people in trouble and their attempts to escape from a dehumanizing society. In contrast with later, hyper-modern films of his like demonlover and Irma Vep, this one evokes the New Wave and classic French cinema. Christine and Gilles are memorable screen characters who many viewers will remember for a very long time.