Product Details

• Actors: Bernard Giraudeau, Malik Zidi, Ludivine Sagnier, Anna Levine
• Directors: François Ozon
• Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Zeitgeist Video
• DVD Release Date: October 9, 2001
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005KCAW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,958 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Water Drops on Burning Rocks" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

François Ozon, one of the better directors to come out of France in recent years, stumbles with this adaptation of a cheesy Fassbinder play. It's the typical Fassbinder setup-an older man seduces a younger innocent with disastrous results. The film takes place in an apartment, and Ozon does a good job at sustaining a decent, interesting rhythm in cramped quarters, but the characters drag out their empty behavior past tolerance. In French. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Product Description

Germany in the 70s. Leopold a 50 year old businessman meets franz who is 20. He invites him back to his place. A love affair begins. One day something of little importance leads to a difference of opinion. And from this moment on theres no such thing as we anymore. Studio: Zeitgeist Films Release Date: 02/12/2002 Run time: 82 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, stylish, powerful - even if haven't seen Fassbinder, October 31, 2003

By 

J. Clark (metro New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Water Drops on Burning Rocks (DVD)

With his deliriously rich fourth feature, Water Drops On Burning Rocks, François Ozon (See The Sea, Under The Sand, 8 Women) tackles the legacy of the great Rainer Werner Fassbinder in fascinating ways, even as he refines his own distinctive voice. This brilliantly acted film is alternately tender and sardonic, visually opulent yet claustrophobic, and wise beyond its years.

Although you do not need to have seen a single Fassbinder to enjoy Ozon's film, those people familiar with the German enfant terrible will recognize his perennial theme of the vicious circles of exploitation - with all of the attendant love, loathing and unsettling but sometimes hilarious humor. Yet his worldview is refracted through a new, and razor-sharp, perspective. Middle-aged Leopold and 20-year-old Franz obviously love each other, but their familiar, and all-too-human, inability to communicate divides them. Into that breach Leopold is only too eager to bring exploitation, as he turns Franz into a hausfrau, albeit one in lederhosen instead of pantyhose. Typical of Fassbinder, we see the exploitation spiral into a second generation, as Franz uses Leopold's strategies on his former girlfriend, Anna, when she makes a surprise visit in the hope of snagging back her beau. Perhaps the most poignant, and surprising, example of these circles - within circles - of need and frustration comes when we learn the story of the mysterious Vera, Leopold's former lover.

Ozon also uses, and creatively plays with, Fassbinder's visual style, especially as seen in the ravishing Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. Like Fassbinder he narrows the visual field with edges of walls, doors, and windows to re-frame and imprison the characters, and employs frontal shots, extreme angles, and merciless close-ups; although Ozon favore more diffused lighting. Like his predecessor, Ozon wrests genuine visual beauty from the claustrophobia of the single hermetic setting. He also paid meticulous attention to a dead-on recreation of a 70s bachelor pad, from clunky rotary-dial phones to swamp-like shag rugs.

There is also much of originality here; and Ozon had not set out to make a neo-Fassbinder picture. As he remarked, he had "wanted to make a film about a couple for a long time.... about the difficulty of living together and putting up with the daily routine. In discovering Fassbinder's play, I realized that I didn't need to write an original screenplay.... Funny and moving at the same time, the breakdown of the couple touched me."

Ozon brings the play to life, inspiring in his four cast members performances of outstanding range and depth. Fassbinder is justly praised for his use of actors, but as a disciple of Brecht and Godard he often emphasized the political ideas which his characters embody, creating an intentional distance between audience and the allegorized figures onscreen. With Ozon, the ideas are there for anyone interested in extracting them, but there is more spontaneity. And Ozon is already a master at revealing increasingly subtle psychological layers in his extended scenes with characters - most notably Franz - alone. To take one example, Franz in the bathtub reading Heinrich Heine's poem "Lorelei" is not just some highbrow beefcake shot. Ozon and actor Malik Zidi show us the minute workings of Franz's mind and emotions, in this intensely private moment. Even in the astonishing final scenes, when the film reaches its ironic (and typically Fassbinder) climax, Ozon has his actors emphasize the flesh-and-blood humanity of the people whose lives they are not only inhabiting but revealing. I am in no way denigrating Fassbinder; but this is a major, albeit subtle, difference between the two filmmakers.

The picture's most delightful moment - which Fassbinder would never have filmed - is the wild dance number in the fourth (of four) acts, using an infectious 70s Euro-pop anthem, "Dance the Samba With Me." Ozon keeps Fassbinder's head-on visual style - the quartet arranged in a (ahem!) straight row - but the energy is purely his own. Not only does the dance give a burst of adrenaline, as it hurls the film towards its climax, it also reveals character. We vividly see one reason for Leopold's phenomenal sex appeal: His swiveling hips might have turned even Elvis's head. This scene also shows that Ozon is part of the modern French cinematic tradition, recalling the whackily unforgettable madison danced by Godard's titular Band of Outsiders (1964).

Comparisons aside, Ozon has created an exceptional film in his own right: Funny, caustic, stylish, disturbing, and memorable. He has brought a strikingly fresh vision to this wittily pessimistic play of ideas (about love, power, and gender roles) and tangled emotions. And although Fassbinder might have been surprised by the changes (like grafting one of his most personal later films, In a Year of 13 Moons, onto the final act of one of his earliest plays), you can imagine him reveling in Ozon's accomplished visual style (both allusive and original), his command of narrative rhythm, the richness of the performances, and even those wonderfully unique moments - like the samba - which just might have set Rainer Werner's own toes a-tapping.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating film from a very talented director., July 15, 2002

By 

"mobby_uk" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Drops on Burning Rocks (DVD)

Francois Ozon is one of the new wave of French directors, who have made their mark by the sheer force fo their talent. And while his latest 8 Femmes, has taken France by storm, and has made his name on an European and International level, his earlier films show the signs of a great director.
I saw Water Drops yesterday, having no expectations at all..Just a movie on cable to kill my sunday afternoon, and i was pleasently surprised and captivated.
The story based on Fassbinder's play is typical of the late German director..gay themed, complex, full of tortured souls, and pessimistic. But Ozon gives the film a new life, with his brilliant camera work, and his obvious sympathy for the characters.
Although the ending leaves a lot to be desired, and prevents me from giving the film full marks, it is the wondeful actors that keeps you watching in fascination.
Giraudeau and Zidi give their best performances to date as the gay couple, with a complex relationship full of passion, quarrels and the need for fulfillment.
As for Ludivine Sagnier, not only she is very beautiful, but her acting is very good, as well as Anna Thomson aka Anna Levine, an underrated American actress that did some excellent indie and european films.
The dance scene is probably a bit weird , watching it in the context of the whole film, but it adds some humour to the Fassibinderesque bleak atmosphere.
The choice of music, I thought was very good as well. The German songs complement the film beautifully.
The film has some nudity, but it is not explicit in a voyeuristic sense. Like most French films, it comes naturally and very believable, as opposed to the somehow added scenes for the viewer's pleasure in most American films.
So Water Drops is an intense above average film for cinema lovers that should be appreciated for its acting, direction and even music.

20 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ms Ludivine Sagnier steals the show, November 2, 2001

By 

Thomas A. Avallone "BluRayfan" (St Charles IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

First of all, let me point out that I'm not a fan of gay/lesbian cinema....But, with that said - this is an intreging character study of a middle aged man falling in LUST with a 19-20 year old man. As graphic as this COULD have been, it was handled with care. Its not exploitive in any way - so I can't imagine the public in an outrage - or REALLY shocked by some of the scenes with actors Giraudeu & Zidi.
As with MANY relationships, the 'spark' seems to disappear after a few months - and the two lovers are confronted with their differences. But when it becomes VERY interesting is when Zidi's fiance shows up, (EXTREAMLY well played by Ludivine Sagnier) - along with Giraudeu's X lover. Not much can be said without giving away too much - but all 4 are faced with their own depressing situation.

The film tries to be lighthearted at times, but only succeds when the 4 characters are dancing to 'Dance The Samba With Me'. This is one of the greatest DANCE scenes I have ever saw on film - and the REASON I say that:

Look at all 4 characters. Play the scene over & over watching ONE actor at a time. The personalities clash within the film, just as their dance techniques do. Giraudeau plays the MACHO uncompassionate one, Zidi plays the 'confused and just trying to fit IN' image, Sagnier plays the fun-loving-NOTHING to worry about flower child, while Giraudeau's X lover (played by Anna Levine) is the sultry sexy one, who tries to hold on to her youth - but falls short of doing so. This is a BRILLIANT scene ! Its too bad it only lasts a minute.

I think if it was more kind-hearted, it would have been a fantastic movie...But it starts to get bogged down in self indulgence, and therefore seems to ruin the tempo of the film.

ALL actors are excellent in it, but Ludivine Sagnier stands out above the rest. Her presence in the film is such a welcome sight - she could (and WILL) turn a few heads in a room. Throughout 75% of the film, her character is either nude or walking around in her underwear - which I'm sure is not easy to do in filmaking - but she pulls it off wonderfully. I certainly hope to see her in more films soon. She is a name to watch for.