Inside Out '08: Lilies & Finn
Reviews of Water Lilies and Finn's Girl From Toronto Film Fest
From May 15-25, 2008, Inside Out will bringing audiences the best of gay and lesbian cinema in Toronto, Ontario. Here are early reviews of 2 of the films to be screened.
Water Lilies
Directed By Celine Sciamma
7/10
Very little in life is as profound and emotionally stirring as first love. Nascent sexuality and newfound feelings of desire spur on profound feelings of neuroses and isolation. It’s a painful time that creates a framework for future romantic intimacies. Foundations for trust and dynamics of power are created as one discovers their own level of security and comfort within their own skin. Water Lilies explores the complexities of teenaged desires with great insight and effect. Subtext and power struggles are evident as the characters squirm within their own skins to get what they think they want, but the almost clinical approach to the subject matter leaves the viewer feeling somewhat cold. Accompanying her girlishly plump friend Anne (Louise Blachere) to a synchronized swimming meet, the tomboyish Marie (Pauline Acquart) is enchanted by one of the stronger teams; primarily the beautiful and shapely Floriane (Adele Haenel). In an effort to get closer to Floriane, Marie professes a desire to watch the girls practice their swimming routine, in exchange for any favour that Floriane might need. Much to Marie’s chagrin that favour is to act as a false cover while Floriane runs off to fool around with Francois (Warren Jacquin). When he is unable to successfully copulate with Floriane, Francois runs off to desperate and insecure Anne to get his rocks off. Aware that he is using her, Anne resigns to her role in the relationship, as does Marie in her unrequited feelings for Floriane. Anchored by particularly strong performances from the three leads, Water Lilies mixes childish dalliances with budding lust. They stomp on drinking boxes, play childish games with water bottles and partake in youthful shoplifting, all while discussing their loss of virginity and struggling with the inherent desires that they are afraid to act on. This balance is handled to great effect, painting a very perceptive portrait of these young women. Attention to perceived slights and reactionary behaviour is what makes Water Lilies stand out from other coming-of-age tales and is what will give it a healthy shelf life. Where the film struggles is in audience connection. The girls are painted with a believable level of guarded behaviour and conflicting actions and while it is entirely accurate, it also distances the viewer from full engagement, as their motivations and actions are not always entirely clear or logical. This isn’t necessarily a fault in the creation of the film, as the only way to overcome this flaw may have been a condescending voiceover, but it detracts from the experience on the whole. Overall, Water Lilies is an affective and insightful film about teen angst and love, but offers a clinical analysis of the subject matter rather than offering an emotional connection.
Finn's Girl
Directed by Dominique Cordona & Laurie Colbert
3/10
Finn’s Girl is a well intentioned, if incompetently assembled, lesbian escapist fantasy. It’s a film where heterosexual men can think of little else to ask an intelligent, successful, motorcycle riding, profanity spewing lesbian aside from, “what do you get into when you muffdive?”. It’s not an entirely inaccurate depiction, but represents a great deal of the stereotypes and writing problems that are demonstrated throughout. Following the death of her lover Nancy (Gail Maurice), Dr. Finn Jeffries (Brooke Johnson) is left to look after her adopted daughter Zelly (Maya Ritter). As Finn tries to balance running an abortion clinic, receiving death threats and a burgeoning relationship with fellow abortion doc Jamie (Nathalie Toriel), Zelly becomes increasingly detached; shoplifting, smoking pot and casually insulting her elders. Meanwhile Diana (Yanna McIntosh), a tough lesbian police officer, tries her hardest to convince Finn to give up the abortion clinic and stop neglecting Zelly. A great deal of the footage in Finn’s Girl serves no purpose to the story or the characters. It lingers on hopelessly stagy sequences and actors who frequently appear uncomfortable and disconnected. This is likely due to some fairly atrocious dialogue that often resorts to profanity to convey a point. No character has an overly elaborate lexicon to choose from outside of the clichés they are forced to remain within. There are also some issues surrounding the basic plot. It seems somewhat credulity straining to have an abortion doctor in modern Toronto receiving daily death threats and being attacked so frequently. Not to mention the likelihood of a police officer being assigned to protect her day and night, who seems perfectly at ease looking after Finn’s rambunctious daughter. All of this--in addition to the laugh-out-loud revelation that comes at the end of the film--leaves a sense of confusion and distaste. On the upside, Yanna McIntosh makes a great tough cop, elevating the material with her presence, and newcomer Maya Ritter shows maturity beyond her years.
Read reviews of Saturn in Opposition & She's a Boy I Know or Out at the Wedding & Savage Grace.
