L'eau froide (1994)

L’eau froide: Directed by Olivier Assayas. With Virginie Ledoyen, Cyprien Fouquet, László Szabó, Jean-Pierre Darroussin. When the girl of a rebelious teenage couple finds out she is being sent away, they both believe escaping the rigid order suffocating them is the only way to be free. But is it?

“What a splendid film. I was amazed only just now to discover the, oh so 70s set film, was made as recently as the 90s. Clearly the work put in by Assayas in his early films, where he clearly struggled against the odds and low budgets to get his feelings across have culminated to bare fruit here. Not 100% clear all the time yet the feeling is always right, we believe even if we do not understand fully, the actions and the motivations. Sadness, anger, loss and revenge lurk but a youthful energy raises this up and despite our struggles with the sense of the odd scene we find ourselves prepared for the ecstasy of the 70s music and drug fuelled trance like bonfire sequence at the centre of this extremely well made film. From there things become a little more predictable even if we find ourselves hopelessly in denial, like the characters portrayed so beautifully before us. Marvellous.”