At 18, Claire is torn between swim practice and the pangs of first love. The elderly and eccentric Maurice Reverdy takes her in in his big house, but the girl carefully avoids this faraway figure, who is none other than her grandfather. Proud, rebellious, solitary, they represent two generations that are simultaneously attracted to and repelled by one another. Their lives will intertwine, as one seeks out her future and the other is tormented by his past.
Acting
Michel Piccoli's volcanic restraint — a masterclass in not saying things.
Cinematography
Water as metaphor, beautifully shot without drowning in it.
Director
Laurent Perreau
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pauline Étienne was 17 during filming; her actual swimming background meant no doubles for the pool sequences.
Piccoli, then 83, reportedly improvised several of Maurice's cruelest lines — the directors kept them because Étienne's flinch was real.
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