Product Description

Set in the competitive world of synchronised swimming, WATER LILIES is a brilliantly observed portrait of female adolescence. The film centres around three 15-year-old-girls who experience first love in very different ways. WATER LILIES is the directorial debut of twenty-seven year-old Céline Sciamma and stars newcomers Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère, Adèle Haenel and Warren Jacquin. Premiering at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard, Sciamma and her young cast were widely hailed as among the most talented newcomers to emerge from the festival.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10618 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-07-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Synopsis
In this French film, a group of teenage girls reveal that it's not just adults who scheme and plot. WATER LILIES (LA NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES) is set in the seemingly innocent world of synchronized swimming, where 15-year old Floriane (Adele Haenel) seduces everyone around her, including late bloomer Marie (Pauline Acquart). Writer-director Celine Sciamma makes her debut with this compelling drama which premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to much critical acclaim.

Customer Reviews

strange, impressive, evocative
A strange and impressive film - very French, but also very appealing to anyone who remembers what it was/is to be young, confused about the differences between friendship/infatuation and love, about feeling you don't know the rules, and slowly realising the rules have been made and accepted by others, but they might not actually be rules thet you have to follow. I think that is a bit where the synchronized swimming parallel comes in! But the swimming is not the subject of this film - love is. Or the feelings of two (maybe three) 15-year old girls. I think this film touches upon... the mix between the child's world, the regulated world, and the world where you feel you have to become adult, don't know how to go about it, and other people seem to know stuff and all you feel is confusion, and fear of embarrassment not knowing what to do... about jealousy, without being able to utter it or do something about it.... about not being able to say what you feel... it's all here, recognizable even if it's in French and in girl... painful, touching, moving.

The young star, Pauline Acquart, is particularly good. It is all very evocative. And all those scenes in the swimming pool brought back the smell of chlorinated water vividly, too - and smells, like the little hints dropped here and there in the film, call up memories and feelings very well

Pace tooooo slow
I am not sure what it is about French films. For me it felt as if the film needed more dialog. The actresses seemed to rely a lot on emotions, looks and attitudes. This is definitely NOT a film I would watch for the second time. The pace was very slow moving and at the end of the day, the storyline didn't amount to much. The crux of the story is about two very young girls and the uncertainty/confusion which comes with same sex friendships. If you are looking for steamy love scenes then this movie is not for you.

massive tease!
good film but the swimming girl is a total tease she so gets a kick out of the love the young girl trying to find herself gives her.