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. The film tracks the sexual awakenings of three 15-year-old female friends in a middle class suburb of Paris 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.
Marie seems to be physically and emotionally attracted to Floriane. Both Floriane and Anne are members of a synchronised swimming team, The Stade Franas Swimmers. Marie expresses an interest in joining the team in order to become closer to Floriane, whom the other girls regard as a ‘slut.’ Floriane exhibits her protectiveness for and caring attitude towards Marie when the former gives the latter a medal she was awarded.
When Marie sees Anne at a later point in time, Anne is resentful towards Marie for ignoring her. Marie tells Anne that she was just spending time at her cousin’s. Anne accepts this explanation. The next day, Anne speaks to a young man upon whom she has a crush, Francois. Meanwhile, Floriane confesses to Marie that she has not yet had sex, despite what everyone else on the swim team seems to think. Floriane tells Marie that the rest of the young women on the team make up rumours because they do not like her. In fact, Floriane does not have many female friends.
Floriane tells Marie that one day, she was practicing in the water and the swimming instructor showed her his penis under the water. When Floriane asks Marie if she has any similar stories to tell, Marie is quiet and Floriane tells her that she is very lucky. When they go to Floriane’s place, they spend time together lying on Floriane’s bed holding hands. After a swim practice, Marie feels affronted when she sees Floriane kissing Francois. Floriane tells Marie that she is afraid of what will happen if Francois discovers that she is really not a slut and is hesitant about the prospect of having sex.
Floriane and Marie spends the night at a nightclub, where Floriane attempts to find an older man in order to lose her virginity before Francois discovers that she’s a virgin. Floriane then finds a man and kisses him in his car, but is interrupted by Marie. Floriane thanks Marie for the interruption, and later tells Marie that she wants Marie to be her ‘first’, but Marie rejects Floriane. Later that day, Marie meets Anne at a shopping mall, where Anne shoplifts a necklace.
When the two eat lunch at McDonald’s, Marie tells Anne that she is immature, then leaves the eating establishment. When Anne enters the male swimming pool locker room after her confrontation with Marie, she gives Francois the necklace, which he then gives to Floriane. She confesses to Marie that Francois wants to see her tonight when her parents are not at home. Marie then states that she will do what Floriane had asked her to do earlier. In bed, it seems as if Marie accomplished the goal.
When Anne sees Marie the next day, she tells Marie that Floriane actually did not have sex with Francois. After Marie and Anne share a kiss, Marie tells Anne that she likes somebody. Anne assumes that Marie has a heterosexual crush. At the swimming party, Anne spits into Francois’s mouth when he attempts to have sex with her for a second time.
In the locker room, Marie and Floriane finally share a passionate kiss. Floriane leaves Marie in tears when she indicates that she is going back to the party, telling Marie to ‘save her’ if the guy she talked to earlier at the party turns out to be ‘an ass.’ The film concludes with Marie jumping fully clothed into the pool, with Anne following Marie’s actions once Marie resurfaces. The two best friends float on their backs in the pool together, while Floriane dances alone at the party, oblivious to the effect that her actions have had upon Marie and Anne.
About the Production
Water Lillies debuted May 17 at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, setting off a buzz that’s already crossing the Atlantic. The film is about the burgeoning sexuality of 15-year-old girls, set against the backdrop of synchronized swimming. The director, 27-year-old Céline Sciamma, had never even directed a short before turning the screenplay she wrote for school into a feature film. And while Water Lillies is already getting the kind of reviews independent filmmakers dream of, Sciamma is the one making news.
“Hey, I’m gay,” says Sciamma, sitting outdoors at Cannes with a pack of Benson & Hedges pack close at hand. “I don’t know if I should say this,” she says laughing, then pauses before deciding to go on. “I always…resent the people who are gay, who could say it, and they don’t. So I’m not going to do that. I have to be logical.”
Although Cannes is the height of sophistication, the question of sexuality still goes largely unasked. In her well-spoken English Sciamma describes how the media would dance around the issue, even after she had made a film in which a teenage girl explores her sexuality.
Sciamma sees herself primarily as a writer but clearly shows a knack for filmmaking. She shows particular deftness in the scene where our awkward heroine relieves her friend’s virginity as “a favor.” Sciamma crafts a tense and emotional moment as one girl feels intense pangs of love while the other simply endures the pain. It ends with a single, breathtaking tear.
“We did [that scene] in the beginning of the shooting, in the second week,” recalls Sciamma. “But we worked together for a month before shooting. It wasn’t rehearsal, I guess. It was more getting them to be physical together, working on the sensuality. So when they got to the set they were really comfortable with one another.
“It was such a big deal for both of the actresses. They’re 15 years old; it’s really awkward to do this. But they were really committed to the film. The tear just appeared.”
Water Lilies is a big deal for the single Sciamma. “Making a movie makes you single,” she quips with a laugh about her two-year journey. But she is happy to have scored with a story that places young women front and center; adults are virtually nonexistent in the film, and boys are kept almost entirely in the background.
“So whoever you are, you have to identify with a 15-year-old girl,” she explains. “I wanted everybody in the audience — when [the two girls] kiss—I wanted everybody to want the kiss to happen.
“And also I wanted to contribute. There’s really a lack of homosexual representation [in the movies], and I’ve suffered from this. Stories can really fulfill the lack of love or experience you can have when you’re young.”
Water Lilies – Naissance des Pieuvres (2008)
Directed by: Céline Sciamma
Starring: Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère, Adele Haenel, Warren Jacquin, Christelle Baras, Alice de Lencquesaing, Claire Pierrat, Barbara Renard, Esther Sironneau, Yvonne Villemaire
Screenplay by: Céline Sciamma
Production Design by: Gwendal Bescond
Cinematography by: Crystel Fournier
Film Editing by: Julien Lacheray
Costume Design by: Marine Chauveau
Set Decoration by: Geraldine Laferte
Art Direction by: Pascal Leguellec
Music by: Jean-Baptiste de Laubier
Studio: Balthazar Productions
Release Date: April 4, 2008
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