Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)

Synopsis: Without leaving the space of a chic 70s-style art deco apartment in Berlin, WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS unfurls the beginning, middle, and end of a focused, suffocating love relationship between... Without leaving the space of a chic 70s-style art deco apartment in Berlin, WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS unfurls the beginning, middle, and end of a focused, suffocating love relationship between 50-year-old business man Leopold (a superb Bernard Giraudeau), and 20-year-old boy toy Franz (Malik Zidi). Director Francois Ozon (CRIMINAL LOVERS) has made his masterpiece with this film, creating a static intensity between his two protagonists through long shots of each man examining himself in the mirror, and through nearly sarcastic camera work that seems to crack jokes at its subjects' expense. The amusingly cruel plot which explores Leopold's ability to dominate Franz, making him a pathetic love-slave, nonetheless shows the realistic blend of pain, love, obsession, and aggression existant in the relationship. The finale of the film is outrageous and terrible--and somehow funny, especially during the notorious dance scene--as Franz's ex-girlfriend and Leopold's ex-lover appear for a menage a quatre. Based on a play written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ozon's adaptation is divided in to three "acts," each beginning with a different sexual pairing, and is a perfect tribute to the ridiculous complexity of love. [More]

Starring: Bernard Giraudeau, Malik Zidi, Anna Thomson, Ludivine Sagnier

Starring: Bernard Giraudeau, Malik Zidi, Anna Thomson, Ludivine Sagnier

Director: Francois Ozon

Director: Francois Ozon
Screenwriter: Francois Ozon
Producer: Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier

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