View source for Cold Water (film)

{{refimprove|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Cold Water (L'eau froide)
| image          = L'EAU_FROIDE.jpg
| image_size     = 
| caption        = 
| director       = [[Olivier Assayas]]
| producer       = [[Georges Benayoun]]
| writer         = [[Olivier Assayas]]
| starring       = [[Virginie Ledoyen]]<br />[[Cyprien Fouquet]]<br />[[Jackie Berroyer]]
| music          = 
| cinematography = Denis Lenoir
| editing        = Luc Barnier
| distributor    = [[Pan-Européenne]]
| released       = {{Film date|1994|05|17|[[1994 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|1994|07|06|France}}
| runtime        = 92 minutes
| country        = France
| language       = French
| budget         = 
| gross          = $185,917<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=4418|title=L\'Eau froide (1994) - JPBox-Office|first=|last=JP|website=www.jpbox-office.com}}</ref>
}}
'''''Cold Water''''' ({{lang-fr|L'eau froide}}) is a 1994 French film written and directed by [[Olivier Assayas]] about two troubled teenagers in [[France]] during the 1970s. The film was screened in the [[Un Certain Regard]] section at the [[1994 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2988/year/1994.html|title=Festival de Cannes: Cold Water|accessdate=31 August 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>

In October, 2007, it was screened at the [[Pacific Film Archive]] in [[Berkeley, California]], where Assayas spent a week in residence introducing and discussing his films with the audiences there. He was accompanied by his friend Jean-Michel Frodon, the current director of the journal ''[[Cahiers du cinéma]]'', of which Assayas was once the director. Assayas said the film is autobiographical, reflecting upon his own teenage years. He went out of his way to cast actors who were not professionals or who, as in the case of male lead [[Cyprien Fouquet]] (playing Gilles), had never acted before. Female lead [[Virginie Ledoyen]] (playing Christine) had appeared in several films experience. The film was the result of a commission from French TV, which wanted a 52-minute film but allowed Assayas to make a longer version, after some negotiations.

==Plot==
Gilles and Christine are teenagers from unstable homes. When they do some shop-lifting together she is arrested, but he gets away. She escapes from a mental institution and meets him at an abandoned house in the country, where a large group of rebellious teenagers are having a wild, all-night party. American rock music from the period is played prominently and has a very strong effect, especially "Me and Bobby McGee," sung by [[Janis Joplin]]. Drugs are used, mainly pot and hash. As the party is winding down, Gilles and Christine escape even deeper into the countryside, searching for a commune where artists are said to live without electricity or running water. This is Christine's idea, but Gilles reluctantly goes along. A jolting conclusion shows us that, as Assayas puts it, "Gilles' real life has now begun."

==Cast==
*[[Virginie Ledoyen]] - Christine
*[[Cyprien Fouquet]] - Gilles
*[[László Szabó (actor)|László Szabó]] - Gilles's father
*[[Jean-Pierre Darroussin]] - Inspector
*[[Jackie Berroyer]] - Christine's father
*[[Dominique Faysse]] - Christine's mother
*[[Smaïl Mekki]] - Mourad
*[[Jean-Christophe Bouvet]] - Professor
*[[Ilona Györi]] - Marie
*[[Renée Amzallag]] - The nurse
*[[Jérôme Simonin]] - Vendeur de dynamite
*[[Laetitia Lemerle]] - Corrine
*[[Alexandra Yonnet]] - Copine blouson
*[[Caroline Doron]] - Copine blessée
*[[Laetitia Giraud]] - Christiane

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0109702}}
*{{Allmovie title|134243}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|leau_froide}}
*[https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/5916-cold-water-dancing-on-the-ruins ''Cold Water: Dancing on the Ruins''] an essay by [[Girish Shambu]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Olivier Assayas}}

[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:French films]]
[[Category:French-language films]]
[[Category:1990s drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Olivier Assayas]]