WATER LILIES (Naissance des pieuvres)
Starring: Pauline Acquart, Luie Blachere, Adele Haenel,Warren Jacquin, Christel Barras, Marie Gilli-Pierre
Written by: Celine Sciamma
Directed by: Celine Sciamma
Distributor: Balthazar Productions
Water Lilies, the centerpiece of this year’s Milwaukee LGBT Film Festival, is an all-too-real coming of age love story wrapped in impressive, earthbound visuals. Pauline Acquart stars as Marie, a 15-year-old girl attracted to Floraine (Adele Haenel), a beautiful young synchronized swimmer. After a long spell of admiration from afar, Marie finally musters the courage to spend time with the popular Floriane under the guise of an interest in synchronized swimming. Gradually, the two girls become friends, but Floraine’s interest in boys amplifies the distance between them. Marie must come to terms with her feelings for Floriane, even as it taxes her relationship with her best friend Anne (Louise Blachere). The intricacies of romance and friendship are explored in striking detail in an intimate story focused almost exclusively on these three characters.
For a story this emotionally complex, Water Lilies has remarkably little dialogue. Writer/Director Celine Sciamma renders the story in a million shades of unspoken ambiguity. In fact, if there were any less dialogue, the film would come across as a more superficial, surreal art house piece. Instead, Water Lilies speaks volumes in few words. Moods and emotions drift across the screen at a steady pace as relationships develop in relative silence.
The glances Acquart and Haenel share capture an artful expression of complex emotion that’s often elusive to even the most experienced screen actors. As daunting as it is to deliver important details in casual movements, Acquart and Haenel make it look exceedingly easy, even natural. Blachere does most of her best work on this film alone without saying a word. Her story is such a departure from the film’s arc that it almost seems extraneous in places, but as the story progresses, it’s clear that her character plays an important role in the emotional center of everything.
Like the water that buoys everything in this film, the plot moves through moments at a clip, providing enough time for the audience to think without slowing anything down. VS
Water Lilies plays Wednesday, September 10 at the Oriental Theatre.
The 21st annual LGBT Film Festival, sponsored by VITAL Source, runs September 4 -14 at the Oriental and UWM Union Theatres. Details at www4.uwm.edu/psoa/lgbtfilm
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