Watch A Story of Water For Free

Wow! Such a good movie.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

"Une histoire d'eau" or "A Story of Water" is a French short film from 1961, so this one has its 55th anniversary this year. according to IMDb, it runs for 18 minutes, but all the versions I found ran for 12. Godard and Truffaut, the most important French filmmakers of their time, united here for this little black-and-white movie. The setting is a town that is almost completely flooded with water. We follow the ways of a young woman who meets a young man and the two spend time together and fall in love. What do we learn from this film? Jokes in the 1960s were just as bad as they are today. Two great filmmakers do not necessarily make a good film if they collaborate. I did not enjoy the watch too much. It never felt really atmospheric to me and I cared very little about the love story. Brialy, the male actor, worked in so many other projects, while Caroline Dim never appeared in a film again apparently after this one. Polar opposites really. I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.

What to me was a generally pointless film short was given a level of credibility by reviewer Graham Greene in the review comments for the picture, so I have to thank him for explaining things here I would never have come up with on my own. When the credits rolled for the writer and director for this short, I actually thought it was a spoof seeing the names of Godard and Truffaut in the same sentence. By that time I was already puzzled why the young lady in the picture (Caroline Dim) got rid of her boots after the first romp through the flood, surely she should have expected more of the same in the swampy surroundings. As 'A Story of Water' there isn't much of a story here, but that probably wasn't even the point for the film makers. I'd suggest they were simply splashing around a few ideas.

A Story of Water (1961) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Francois Truffaut directed this story of a woman trying to get to Paris but she's unable to due to the streets being flooded. She eventually catches a ride with a young man and the two begin to get to know one another as they make their way to the Eiffel Tower. The introduction I watched to this film stated that Truffaut directed the majority of the scenes here and then handed the material over to Jean-Luc Godard who edited everything and then added the narration and weird soundtrack. If you're familiar with either filmmaker's work then it's pretty easy to see the two styles going against one another but I'm sure this here is one reason why so many people love this short. As for me, I can't say that I loved it but at the same time I didn't hate it either. I thought the "story" aspect was the most interesting part as we see the two becoming closer as they go on this journey together. The weird music score adds a certain campy nature to the picture and the strange dialogue does the same. There are some interesting touches with the two styles going up against one another but in the end it doesn't make this anything more than mildly entertaining.

This short film follows a woman's trip to Paris through a vast flooded area. On the way she meets a man who teases her. The story is narrated by the woman most of the time. I liked the end credits where the woman just narrated the credits, as if to say this is nothing really.