Water Drops on Burning Rocks

I've never been a big Fassbinder fan but with the coming retrospective I thought it was time to check him out again. So I chose this movie, since it was a Fassbinder script directed by a Frenchman (Ozon) that I admire. It was a delight. Somehow the problems I always had enjoying Fassbinder (the intense cruelty between his characters, the disorienting emotional mood swings, the bleak, dreary German atmosphere) were completely offset by the sense of play and love of color and music that Ozon brings to this script. As in 8 Women, his sense of style and beauty rival Almodovar's and even the grim reality of Fassbinder has a beautiful, chic French gloss. He understands that love and sex in Fassbinder are closely matched with jealousy and destruction. It all clicked for me. And the omnisexuality is so fresh - so unspoiled... That said, it's a devastating critique of what lovers can do to each other. But it's,...well...so pretty...

I really, really enjoyed it.

And I thought 8 Women was a masterpiece..

Francois Ozon is a filmmaker who is on the high road to immortality. I saw this film late one night when I couldn't sleep and it was the single most enthralling movie-watching experience I've had in that condition. Pourqois?

Three reasons: 1. The gorgeous cinematography. While it was mostly static edited shots, they were Kubrick-accurate (angled impeccably) & the color was so lush I was literally remarking aloud- "Ozon is a master". 2. The gorgeous actors. Only 4 stars in this film, and they are all excellent. Their faces are endlessly fascinating, and I do not have words to describe their beautiful bodies. (J'adore Sagnier Sagnier Sagnier!) 3. The gorgeous story. This film has it all-emotion, sex and death. Everything a successful film should have. But what I say can't come close to the experience. "Water Dropping" should drop your jaw.

Based on the Fassbinder play, Water Drops on Burning Rocks is an acutely observed exploration of relationships, successfully mixing burlesque absurdity with grim truths to create an enjoyable and insightful film.

The film's characters revolve around the life and whims of Leopald (Bernard Giraudeau), an ageing swinger whose laissez-faire suavity seduces the callow Franz (Malik Zidi). By the beginning of Act II, the latter's boyish confidence has been replaced with the willingness to selflessly submit himself to the whims of his irritable older lover. With the arrival of Anna (Ludivine Sagnier), Franz's subservient fiance, and Vera (Anna Levine), Leopald's former partner, the latter's apartment becomes the home to both farce and tragedy, as desires, attachments and caprices play themselves out in a confinement from which there is no escape. Ozon's consummate direction and the 1970's setting give the film and ostensible gloss which makes its underlying darkness even more striking. This is no less aided by the effortless confidence exuded by Giraudeau and the desperate neediness that is excellently portrayed by his three lovers. What makes Water Drops on Burning Rocks a memorable work is the power of its insights and the originality of their portrayal; it is a film whose exterior is humorous and playful but whose interior contains a bleak vision, in which relationships mean little more than a repetitive vacuum of need, where libidos and routine hold more weight than deep affection or care.

A finely crafted examination of the traits that can be most destructive and tawdry in relationships, Water Drops on Burning Rocks is saved from being dogmatic or overwhelming by the subtlety and wit employed by Ozon and his cast. It is an example of understated film-making that conveys real insight on a subject that has been much maligned in other films, such as the appalling Romance. Highly recommended to those who wish to a covertly intelligent, beguiling work.

Francois Ozon's film version of Fassbinder's play is like another more slightly surreal, very blackly comic version of "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant", played out this time mostly by men. Fifty year old Leo picks up twenty year old Franz and brings him home for the night. Franz stays, becoming his lover, his houseboy but mostly his slave. There are only two other characters in this slight, stage-bound piece; Anna, Franz's vacuous former girlfriend and Vera, Leo's former transsexual lover.

Fundamentally it's about love, of the destructive, unwholesome kind maybe, but love nevertheless. Whatever hold Leo has over Franz, (and Vera), they both love him though it could hardly be said that it is reciprocated. Leo is very much the master and everyone else is his slave. Whether he is capable of love is debatable.

Ozon makes the piece both erotic and humorous but it is never quite as touching as it ought to be. All four players give good performances with Malik Zidi quietly outstanding as the boy.

The film version of Fassbinder's play retains the theatrical structure with 4 acts, 4 actors and 4 great performances. The dialogue wins you over at once and keeps you in rapt attention hanging on every word. Leopold a persuasive self-indulgent bi-sexual restructures the lives of 3 people as he introduces them to new sexual adventures. First there's Franz a good-looking 20 year old who is contemplating marriage with his girlfriend Anna. He becomes confused about love when he has a homosexual dream which Leopold is only too happy to recreate once he has enticed the somewhat inexperienced Franz into his bed. Then there's Anna who is agreeably surprised at the change in Franz's sexual attitude. She too is overwhelmed by Leopold's advances towards her. Thirdly there's Vera - now a woman, once a man - Leopold's ex-lover perhaps more confused and disappointed than any of them. It's an entertaining romp as we watch the hand of experience "create" new lives for each of them. Leopold always in search of novelty knows what each victim is yearning for and he is only too ready to meet their desires....at least until the novelty wears off. I felt the first three acts were absolutely flawless. Act 4 with its black humour was less appealing I thought. The telephone call to his mother was quite unforgettable....."I think I'll go to Heaven because I'm young!"....and spoken with such dead pan sincerity. And the follow-up call to mother was a real gem. Yes...it's the dialogue that fascinates and holds the play together... the casting too is exceptional....and as for the old game of Ludo.... it will be so much more meaningful to me in the future!