L'eau froide (1994)

A rebellious teenage couple escape the rigid order suffocating them, seeking sanctuary to cultivate their artistic expression and live free.

Director:

Olivier Assayas

Writer:

Olivier Assayas

Stars:

Virginie Ledoyen, Cyprien Fouquet, László Szabó

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Virginie Ledoyen	...	Christine
Cyprien Fouquet	...	Gilles
László Szabó	...	Père de Gille
Jean-Pierre Darroussin	...	Inspecteur
Dominique Faysse	...	Mère de Christine
Smaïl Mekki	...	Mourad
Jackie Berroyer	...	Père de Christine
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Professeur
Ilona Györi	...	Marie
Renée Amzallag	...	Infirmière
Jérôme Simonin	...	Vendeur de dynamite
Laetitia Lemerle	...	Corrine
Alexandra Yonnet	...	Copine blouson
Caroline Doron	...	Copine blessée
Laetitia Giraud	...	Christiane

Storyline

Gilles and Christine a boy and a girl live in the outskirts of Paris, their families are ineffective and distant and they lead a purposeless life. They steal some records in a supermarket but she is caught and sent to a nursing home by force by her parents. She escapes and follows Gilles to a house where some other youths live. They then decide to go south: Christine has been told there is a commune there, where artists live. So they head south sleeping rough...

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Plot Keywords:

youth | commune | family relationships | scientologist | bleakness | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Hungarian English

Release Date:

6 July 1994 (France)

Also Known As:

Cold Water

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,110, 29 April 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$30,209, 21 June 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

IMA Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Widescale theatrical release in the USA was long delayed by the difficulty in licensing the soundtrack.

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Connections

Version of Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge...: La page blanche (1994)

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Soundtracks

Virginia Plain
Written by Bryan Ferry
Performed by Roxy Music

User Reviews

Moving and insightful

I would have thought by now I couldn't be haunted by yet another film about teen-age lovers and outsiders. Yet Assayas' lovely and bleak "Cold Water" is a valuable entry into this crowded, but rarely truly insightful field.

It's 1972. Touching on class, racism and other issues, the film follows Christine and Gilles, who live on the outskirts of Paris. Both are delinquents, indulging in petty crime and feeling outside society. But while Gilles has at least some care and support at home, Christine has a father whose only reaction to her confusion and pain is to lock her away in mental institutions. It's hard to tell where Christine's vicious cycle began. She's clearly unbalanced, but was that inevitable? Or has the act of imprisoning her, ignoring and drugging her pain, not only failed to treat her troubles, but actually caused them?

Assayas manages to take two lost, inarticulate heroes, and make us not only care about them, but identify and see ourselves in them. You don't have to have an adolescence nearly this extreme to understand the kind of inarticulate ache and anger of youth.

Not every moment works, and it could be argued that even at 90 minutes the film can feel too long for its very simple story. But whenever a film-maker takes an overused subject and finds something new to say about it, you have to take notice.

Frustratingly it continues to be unavailable in the U.S. on DVD, blu-ray or for legal download or online viewing. Given the film's excellent reputation, I can only assume that has to do with the expense of rights to the film's amazing soundtrack of 1970s music.