|
New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Water Lilies
Koch-Lorber Films
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Pauline Acquart,
Louise Blachere,
Adele Haenel,
and
Warren Jacquin
It's summer, and the girls' winning synchronized swimming team is in full swing at the vast municipal swimming pool and social hub in the Paris suburb of Cergy. It's here that Floriane, a shapely blonde with come-hither looks, is a valued performer and star of the social set. Although Marie isn't on the team, is small for her age, and is flat-chested, she becomes Floriane's confidante and cover for the budding siren's assignations, often at the expense of Marie's best friend, Anne. The aching doubts and offhanded cruelty of 15- and 16-year-old girls is on full display in this rich coming-of-age tale. (Koch Lorber Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Celine Sciamma
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Celine Sciamma
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 2, 2008
Theatrical: April 4, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
85 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
French |
Alternative Title: Naissance des pieuvres
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Though the material is familiar, Sciamma has a light touch and avoids many teen-movie cliches.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Everything in Water Lilies is more guarded, more complex and far more interesting than it seems.
70
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
It's a world where every emotion feels like the earth moving, and where the shifting tectonics of young lust and friendship, along with the lifelong lessons of a broken heart, have never felt more real.
70
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
Dismissed in some quarters as trash because it depicts a sexual act (of sorts) between two teenage girls, Water Lilies struck me instead as a hypnotic and wholly convincing look at teen culture from the inside, with all its courage, cruelty and unspoken codes of silence intact.
70
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
The elegant Water Lilies is not about answers but about discovery of self and of others in all its pain and pleasure.
70
Variety
Lisa Nesselson
The painfully spot-on essence of teen angst meets the spirit of Esther Williams in Water Lilies. First film by gifted scripter-helmer Celine Sciamma nails the aching doubts and offhanded cruelty of 15- and 16-year-old girls.
70
Village Voice
Nick Pinkerton
French director Céline Sciamma doesn't quite have the stun of discovery--mortified adolescent sexuality is something of a national specialty, after all--but she inexhaustibly endeavors after the indelible image.
63
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Though Water Lilies endlessly teases the audience with its sapphic subtext and young female flesh, Sciamma seems most interested in showing how extremely cruel adolescent girls can be to each other.
63
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
A distant thematic and artistic cousin of Sofia Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides" and Lucrecia Martel's "The Holy Girl."
60
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
Water Lilies is a nice, watchable, attractive, minor work. What it lacks is a sense of purpose, a commitment not just to its characters but also to its own reason for being.
60
The Hollywood Reporter
Richard James Havis
Although a little too open-ended to be wholly satisfying, Water Lilies is still an excellent directorial debut.
50
New York Daily News
Joe Neumaier
With no adults to add melodrama, the sweet Water Lilies depends on the emotion in its young performers' faces to move forward.
 The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|
