| Water Lilies | |
|---|---|
French theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Céline Sciamma |
| Produced by | Bénédicte Couvreur Jérôme Dopffer |
| Written by | Céline Sciamma |
| Starring | Pauline Acquart Louise Blachère Adele Haenel |
| Music by | Jean-Baptiste de Laubier (as Para One) |
| Cinematography | Crystel Fournier |
| Editing by | Julien Lacheray |
| Distributed by | Films Distribution (worldwide) Haut et Court (hobo) Koch Lorber Films (United States) |
| Release date(s) | May 17, 2007 (Cannes Film Festival) August 15, 2007 (France) March 14, 2008 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Water Lilies (French: Naissance des Pieuvres meaning "birth of the octopuses") is a 2007 French film and the debut as a screenwriter and director of Céline Sciamma.[1][2]
Contents |
The film tracks the sexual awakenings of three 15-year-old female friends over the course of a single summer. Finding privacy in the solitude of the swimming pool locker room, blossoming teens Marie (Pauline Acquart), Anne (Louise Blachère) and Floriane (Adèle Haenel) come to learn the true meaning of arousal and the power of sexual attraction.
Western critics have given the film generally positive reviews. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 76% of 42 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews.[3] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 12 reviews.[4]
Tim Palmer discusses the film in the context of first-time, debutant filmmaking in France, which makes up around 40% of French cinema each year. As such, Sciamma's film is formally audacious (notably in its minimalism), self-referential (as in the directors' cameo as a McDonald's clerk), and very engaged with intimate rites-of-passage, the socialization process rendered through a feminine sensibility. [5]
The film was selected for screening in the section Un certain regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and won both the 2007 Prix de la jeunesse at Cabourg Romantic Film Festival and the 2007 Prix Louis-Delluc.
The film secured three nominations for the 2008 César Awards; Céline Sciamma was nominated for the 2008 César Award for Best Debut, and actresses Adèle Haenel and Louise Blachère were both nominated for the 2008 César Award for Most Promising Actress. Eventually the Best Debut award went to Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud for Persepolis, and the Award for Most Promising Actress went to Hafsia Herzi for her performance in La Graine et le Mulet.
The film was screened in November 2008 at the gay film festival Queersicht in Berne, Switzerland.