Girls Can't Swim
As any Mathew Klickstein fan worth his skin can
attest, French films, especially those conducive to
the pre-pubescent young female finding herself and her
sexuality during her "summer of discontent," as it
were (or weren't), are simply what I live for in this
decadent land of freedom, love, and purity. Blah.
Anywho, this endeavor from first-time director
Anne-Sophie Birot presets the incongruous story of two
young girls, who aptly enough, find themselves and
their sexuality over their summer of discontent. How
serendipitous for me. We find the usual pitfalls,
conflicts, and breastesess this genre has become known
for from such mavericks as Claire Denis and Catherine
Breillat (my personal favorite).
In all its handheld, gritty, ribald beauty, we
discover an evocative mode unlike any we can even
breathe close enough to in American cinema today. The
girls receive their well-deserved slaps in the face
(both metaphorically and emotionally) from various
others in the film, we see enough skin to make us
believe the actresses (Karen Alyx & Isild Le Besco, who
are both phenomenally
superb sans the superfluous blanket of makeup or
push-up bras we find in certain other films these
days) are truly portraying a reality that they
themselves might not be ready for especially in
conjunction with the subject matter of the film itself
(as we find one of the girls basically whoring herself
to the fisherman and strangers out by the docks, as
her heartbroken friend ends up in a torrid affair with
the other's father).
Other than the rather typical ending that we'll find
these days in such films (non-closure has become
closure these days, it seems), the film was rare,
unique, vibrant, and as beautiful as they come.
Magnificent. You probably won't be able to find it at
a nearby movie theater, but check it out on video/DVD,
if it ever comes (after all, where the hell is "Fat
Girl" or even an uncensored version of "The Idiots,"
for that matter?)
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