Les filles ne savent pas nager

Being a long-time viewer of French cinema, I had no problems with the pacing or style of this film. In fact, that's why I like European film in general, for a break from the predictability of Hollywood/American cinema.

Actually, I didn't think the pace of this film was particularly slow. "Gwen" seemed constantly on the move, one crisis quickly followed another in her family.

Both girls, as perhaps most people, seemed to have positive natures, but life was dealing them some hard blows, and neither had the tools to overcome the difficulties being dealt them.

Both needed affection and love, but were going about getting in unhealthy ways. They seemed to be searching for affection almost blindly, or instinctually, to me.

I felt empathy for both characters; and as for the comment that "the lead needs to be better looking," I disagree. I thought both were very attractive in their own way.

In the end of the twentieth Century, the teenage movie came back into vogue in the landscape of the French cinema, this movie made by Anne-Sophie Birot confirms it and reveals her own approach in the content and form about the difficult condition of being a teenager.

By dividing her movie in 3 chapters, by delaying the meeting between the 2 main characters, Anne Sophie Birot takes the viewer by surprise. In the first 2 parts, the female director takes her time to draw the portrait of her 2 young interprets and to place them in their respective family circles before making them meet. Their families don't belong to the same social level but are eventually similar on one point: they're on the verge of disintegration. First, Gwen whose family background is very modest. She is lovely and by embarking on overnight love affairs, she knows her first sexual excitements. It's for her the sole way to escape from a tense familial cocoon between a lazy and alcoholic father and a mother who does her best to make ends meet. Now about Lise, the big house in which she lives makes us deduce that she belongs to an upper-class category whose climate is hardly better than to Gwen's. The death of her father plunged her whole family in bitterness and sorrow. Her mother, especially seems to break into pieces. So, to escape this dreary universe, Lise, secretly goes by coach to meet her long-time friend...

As soon as the two friends are together for the holidays, the movie seems to go on, at first in this dreamy perspective. But bit by bit, disagreement grows, the tension that reigned in the two families has overwhelmed the two friends. As a result, there's a detachment and a distance from Lise. Anne Sophie Birot proceeds by little touches and with subtlety to let suggest the reasons of this split. Very simply, Lise is jealous of Gwen's beauty. It is the time of first teenage loves. Gwen is pretty, slender and has no trouble seducing boys whereas Lise due to her little attractive physical appearance is completely eclipsed by her friend when it comes to seduction. So, rancor, jealousy even betrayal suffer into her which lead her to nearly separation with her all time confidant and the director isn't afraid to end her work with an abrupt ending which tips it out in blackness making the viewer feel unwell.

Once again, here's a movie which has the merit to show that it is not an easy thing to be in one's teenage years. Furthermore, real love seems to be omitted from the work. For example, Gwen seems to have love affairs with several boys, but it's more a means to assert herself to go away from a ponderous household . And the female director is buoyed up by her two young interprets whose roles seem to fit them like a glove. For the rest, I will retain this irregularity. According to Gwen, Lise is a brilliant student but in the beginning of the film, we learn that she failed at her GCSE. She handed in a blank sheet of paper but we don't know much about what might have explained her behavior. It would have been wiser and more consistent to make her pass her exam so as to solidify her personality and to better prepare the sequel.

The film lacked direction - where were we going? I would have preferred further exploration of the sexual tension between Lise and Gwen. What were all the erotic/romantic letters from Gwen all about? Once Lise shows up, Gwen treats her bad. The viewer had been led to believe that a certain amount of sexual attraction existed, but I never saw it at all, and that is unfortunate. It would have given an average film an "edge" over other coming of age stories.

The pace was slow - but that's fine. Life as a teenager can be slow and drawn out, teenage summers last at least double as long as those in later life. Isild Le Besco as Gwen was superficially transparent, boys, clothes, sunglasses, her friendship with tomboy, Lise; but that was the problem; superficiality. There were no long, lingering, artistic longshots of the resort, beachlife, metaphorical flowers blooming or as in the case of Gwen and Lise's relationship, getting frazelled and decaying in the hot sun. The boys were just adjuncts, there was no character development, because they were given no characters.

The implied sensuality of the two girls' relationship was only hinted at, as was the nature of the relationship of Lise's two sisters, briefly filmed together in the bath, one washing the other's back, possibly a prelude to a more frontal association, sufficient, anyway, for Lise to take her grandmother shopping to avoid any possible embarrassment.

Had the girls changed perceptions, desires and interests during their last summer together been properly depicted, had the boys been human, had there been a little impish humour, this could have been a minor gem, or a gem about two minors. As it is, the acting was proficient (it's amazing Karen Alyx - Lise - was 21 when she played the role, she seemed so much a teen) the direction by Anne-Sophie Birot, adequate, but very much a woman's perspective, including the integrity of the nudity. But the ending was unnecessarily shallow; the girls should have just had a catfight and video'd it for You Tube, that would have been more realistic, although less French. Maybe You Tube wasn't around in the year 2000. It should have been, the film needed it.

Was this supposed to be the french "Marny". I don't know, I just know that the lead girl was pretty boring. When her girlfriend finally showed up, it was too late to save the film.

I never could figure out where anyone was coming from, except the father and he was portrayed as being unsympathetic.

The mother needed a bigger role, as the director found out too late.