Les Filles ne savent pas nager (2000)

Les Filles ne savent pas nager is a French film first released in 2000, directed by Anne-Sophie Birot.  The film stars Isild Le Besco, Karen Alyx, Pascale Bussières, Pascal Elso and Marie Rivière.  It has also been released under the title: Girls Can’t Swim.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Gwen is a young teenager who lives in a coastal town with her unemployed father and mother.  Each year, her friend Lise, a city girl, comes to visit her, but this year things have changed.  Gwen has a boyfriend and is obsessed with sex, whilst Lise is in mourning after the death of her father. When they meet, it looks as if the two girls no longer have anything in common...

Anne-Sophie Birot made an impressive directorial debut with this strikingly realist portrait of adolescent rebellion and self-discovery.  Whilst the film’s pacing is somewhat uneven (the first half being rather slow and incoherent), it is nonetheless a noteworthy film, thanks largely to the convincing performances of its two young lead actresses, Isild Le Besco and Karen Alyx.

The film’s depth and power only becomes apparent in its second half, when we see the contrast between Gwen and Lise and then their heart-breakingly tragic reunion.  The raw beauty of the Brittany setting, captured by the excellent cinematography, heightens the film’s impact and somehow emphasises the vulnerable and wayward nature of the two girls.  It is a pity that the film relies on an unlikely shock ending to close the narrative when a more probable, naturalistic ending would perhaps have been and more effective.

© James Travers 2002

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