L'enfant d'eau

I just saw this film on CBC in Canada, and was pleasantly surprised at the depth and emotion that it was able to put across. This movie was made originally in French, and was subtitled in English.

The film is a story about a 20 year old male (Emile) who has the mental capacity of a 5 year old. He is involved in a plane crash that strands him along with a 12 year old girl (Cendrine)on a island off the Bahamas for 49 days. What should be noted is that Emile always speaks about himself in the third person, which can be confusing if you don't catch onto this early on.

This movie starts after they have rescued, and is told in a retrospective, mainly from the detailed diary of the 12 year old girl as initially read by Emile's father.

What is being told here is not the aspects of being stranded on the island, but instead the relationship between these two people. Cendrine, on the cusp of puberty, has to change from seeing Emile as a 'retard' if she wishes to live with him on this island. Emile on the other hand, doesn't really see or reciprocate what Cendrine is feeling, since he doesn't have the capacity.

Be forewarned, overall this is a sad movie. There is a bit of levity at one point, but overall there isn't much happiness in this film. I don't believe that every film has to have a happy ending, and since the movie starts with both main characters in the hospital, you get the picture things aren't going well.

I found the musical score quite compelling, and it did well to draw you deeper into this movie. It's a great movie to watch in a dark and quiet environment.

Personally I would have preferred if the retrospective of the 2 of them on the island wasn't cut up as much by switching back to what the father is thinking/doing, but overall that was a minor issue for me.

This movie was well acted and touching, and well worth watching.