Disparity In Water Lilies By Céline Sciamma
Born in Cergy-Pontoise, France, Céline Sciamma has been a strong female presence in the French film scene. Now, with three features under her belt, she shows no signs of stopping. She’s gotten awards from international and French festivals such as Cannes, Lumières, César and more. Sciamma’s work primarily revolves around coming of age stories, specifically sexual queer awakenings and gender nonconformity. Sciamma identifies herself as a gay woman and much of her work explores the intersection of the two. She specifically highlights teen and young adult stories because of “the difficult job of being a girl” as Sciamma says. Teen girls are misrepresented and underappreciated and Sciamma’s work attempts to fix that disparity. Her first feature, Water Lilies, follows a young girl who joins a synchronized swimming team in order to be closer to the team captain, whom she has an intense desire for. Sciamma’s second feature, Tomboy, focuses on a young girl who moves to a new neighborhood and is mistaken as being a boy by the local youth and
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begins to masquerade as a boy. Her most recent feature, Girlhood, analyzes the life of a young black girl as she attempts to fit in with an all-girl gang. Sciamma’s three features each inspect how gender stereotypes are enforced and deviated from in youth, especially Tomboy. Sciamma explores how gender stereotyping in youth affects queer and trans children as well as how the clash between childhood innocence and adult sabotage can stunt exploration into identity. Pauline & Water Lilies Sciamma’s first works, a short film, Pauline, and her first feature, Water Lilies, both explore young girls as they fall in love with women for the first time. Pauline is essentially a static long take as the protagonist, Pauline, ruminates over old memories. She specifically tells a story about acting as a boy for her school play only to have an older man in the audience stand up and grab his crotch, telling Pauline that she needs a good man in her life. She continues to speak about her identity and her desires for girls, ultimately explaining that she has run away from home and her family. Sciamma’s long take heightens the effect of these memories on Pauline. Pauline, lying still on a bed, speaks as though lost in a daze as the past washes over her. The effect adults have had on her as well as the stereotypes spread by those close to her have rendered her, in a sense, paralyzed. She is locked both by the frame of the camera as well as by the influence of adult sabotage. The beginning of the short holds the only other flashes of Pauline’s life. Photos of her past life are shown as Pauline speaks over them. She talks about the village she grew up in and how “everybody [knew] everybody” and that, in childhood, “[they] were free”. This hints at the adult sabotage that Sciamma often utilizes in her work and how the adults often ruin the innocence of childhood by restricting gender and sexual expression. The handheld movement of the camera and the white light that washes over Pauline emphasizes this freedom she felt. Following the title card, the camera has a slow slide from her feet to her face with Pauline saying “At 15, I began to feel confined, a little”. With the restriction of her freedom as a woman, the camera is also stilled to a stop. The audience cannot escape her emotions just as Pauline cannot either. There is no hint as to who Pauline is speaking to or whose room she is in until the last moment of the short. A young girl moves to join Pauline, crashing into the frame as Pauline addresses her “Maybe it’s going to change now. Now that you’re here.” A hand enters frame to caress Pauline’s face, reminding the audience of the world outside the frame and offering hope of freedom once more. Water Lilies is the film that brought Sciamma into the spotlight, both in France and across the world. The film’s protagonist, Marie, finds herself falling for her local synchronized swimming team captain, Floriane. She hopes to join the team and, in doing so, aims to become closer to Floriane. Sciamma became intrigued by synchronized swimming at a young age so her decision to make this her first film comes from her fascination in her teen years. She said of synchronized swimmers: “On the surface, they have to pretend that they don’t suffer, whereas underneath they struggle painfully. It reveals a lot about the job of being a girl.”
Despite Marie’s loneliness and longing to be with Floriane, Floriane herself is stuck with expectations as both a swimmer and as a woman. Marie and Floriane’s interests clash often throughout the film as Floriane is desperate to conform to gender expectations while Marie attempts to break out of her shell by exploring them. While this is Sciamma’s only film without an adult presence, the characters are well into their teen years and understand the roles set out for them. Sciamma wanted to emphasize the “crude reality” of what it is to be a girl and wanted the audience to “identify with a fifteen year old girl”. Perhaps the scene that best emphasizes the difficulty of being a girl is about twenty minutes into the film. It takes place in the locker room after one of the synchronized swimming practices. Floriane sits eating a banana as girls change in the background, her expression dazed until a fellow swimmer calls her attention. The exchange becomes heated as the other girl implies Floriane has been sleeping with too many guys. Floriane’s medium close up is crowded with girls in the background, the static shot capturing both her expression as well as how the other swimmers are whispering to each other in the background. Even the act of eating a banana becomes taboo in Sciamma’s film, young teens already enforcing the gender roles that came before them and waves of feminism clashing. “Boys are all eyes when a girl eats a banana,” the swimmer says, her eyes and many others on Floriane (including Marie). Floriane feels pressured by the conversation and the frame highlights the judgement of her as two girls whisper behind her, she defends herself with the line “I love it”. Sciamma then cuts to a close up of Floriane, now blocking the swimmers behind her in frame. Floriane may have fought off ‘society’s’ judgement (taking form in the other swimmers), but a quick pan over to Marie sitting alone implies a different level of hurt. Floriane is constantly battling with her gendered expectations throughout the film. Her erotic reputation sets Marie up for loveless failure as the film finds Floriane asking Marie to break her hymen before she has sex with her boyfriend. By the end of the film, Marie can no longer take the heartbreak Floriane gives her nor the restrictions she faces, so she leaves Floriane alone. Floriane is caged by what is expected of her while it is enforced by the other swimmers on her team as well as her boyfriend. Sciamma further delves into the idea of gendered restrictions and adult conflict in her next feature, Tomboy. Tomboy Sciamma’s second feature, Tomboy, follows Laure, a ten year old tomboy who has just move to a new neighborhood with her pregnant mother, hardworking father and little sister. On her first day in the new neighborhood, she meets a girl named Lisa who mistakes her for a boy. Laure chooses not to correct Lisa and masquerades as a boy named Mickäel, identity quickly becoming a balancing act. In this film, Sciamma heavily explores the connotations of gender as well as the clash between second wave feminism (the mother) and third wave (Laure). Of Tomboy, Celine Sciamma explains her intentions with the film: "It's not about 'why is she doing this?' - it's about 'how is she doing this?' That way it's open to a wider audience. Some people might think it's the start of a radical journey to identity, and others that it's just something that happened that summer and won't happen again. It's a particular story, but at the same time it's about childhood and how as a child you're always pretending and role-playing. I love exploring this question of identity."
Going into film distribution, she already knew the varying ways the audience could interpret the film as well as the discussion it would bring up about identity.
There are a number of scenes in the film that could be broken down to look at gender politics but I specifically want to look at Laure’s interactions with her mother, her little sister and her friend, Lisa. Lisa is the first to mistake Laure as a boy, instigating the separation of identities. Laure’s mother falls into second wave feminism, she supports Laure’s tomboy attitude but brightens whenever she wears makeup or, later, forces her to wear a dress. On the other hand, Laure’s little sister, Jeanne, may question Laure’s decisions but ultimately, in her childlike innocence, supports her sister and does her best to keep the secret. Lisa falls between the two, open to letting Laure express herself but, at the end of the film, takes time to accept Laure’s ‘true’
identity. There are several scenes throughout Tomboy that show the clash of childhood innocence and the controlling adult world around them. Scenes with Lisa and Jeanne are more relaxed and upbeat, Laure is most free in these scenarios to be whoever she wants. The children in the film are catalysts for free self-expression, which, according to Sciamma, becomes “like a game”. Tomboy, out of all her work, has the most “energy” and has a great “joy in role-playing” which is reflected in the youth of the cast. One particular scene starts with Lisa inviting Mickäel over to hang out, leading to dancing together and putting on makeup. The dancing, however, is most vital to the expression of these two children. Sciamma films this sequence in a jarring manner, camera following Mickäel around as the two dance together. The editing of the moment is spontaneous as well, cuts becoming jump cuts as Mickäel begins to enjoy the fun and actively participate. Many of the moments between the kids of the neighborhood work in a similar sequence, allowing the audience to experience this childlike freedom again, minds working quicker and freer than ever before. Even the concept of putting makeup on a supposed boy is fun for the kids but, at the same time, immediately restricting in the mind of an adult. When Laure’s mother finds her wearing makeup, she applauds the look and begins to impose stereotypes onto her daughter. Even as free as the children are, there are scenes in which Sciamma explores how deeply rooted gender conventions are. Telling moments between Laure and Jeanne investigate how early boys and girls are separated into different categories.
begins to masquerade as a boy. Her most recent feature, Girlhood, analyzes the life of a young black girl as she attempts to fit in with an all-girl gang. Sciamma’s three features each inspect how gender stereotypes are enforced and deviated from in youth, especially Tomboy. Sciamma explores how gender stereotyping in youth affects queer and trans children as well as how the clash between childhood innocence and adult sabotage can stunt exploration into identity. Pauline & Water Lilies Sciamma’s first works, a short film, Pauline, and her first feature, Water Lilies, both explore young girls as they fall in love with women for the first time. Pauline is essentially a static long take as the protagonist, Pauline, ruminates over old memories. She specifically tells a story about acting as a boy for her school play only to have an older man in the audience stand up and grab his crotch, telling Pauline that she needs a good man in her life. She continues to speak about her identity and her desires for girls, ultimately explaining that she has run away from home and her family. Sciamma’s long take heightens the effect of these memories on Pauline. Pauline, lying still on a bed, speaks as though lost in a daze as the past washes over her. The effect adults have had on her as well as the stereotypes spread by those close to her have rendered her, in a sense, paralyzed. She is locked both by the frame of the camera as well as by the influence of adult sabotage. The beginning of the short holds the only other flashes of Pauline’s life. Photos of her past life are shown as Pauline speaks over them. She talks about the village she grew up in and how “everybody [knew] everybody” and that, in childhood, “[they] were free”. This hints at the adult sabotage that Sciamma often utilizes in her work and how the adults often ruin the innocence of childhood by restricting gender and sexual expression. The handheld movement of the camera and the white light that washes over Pauline emphasizes this freedom she felt. Following the title card, the camera has a slow slide from her feet to her face with Pauline saying “At 15, I began to feel confined, a little”. With the restriction of her freedom as a woman, the camera is also stilled to a stop. The audience cannot escape her emotions just as Pauline cannot either. There is no hint as to who Pauline is speaking to or whose room she is in until the last moment of the short. A young girl moves to join Pauline, crashing into the frame as Pauline addresses her “Maybe it’s going to change now. Now that you’re here.” A hand enters frame to caress Pauline’s face, reminding the audience of the world outside the frame and offering hope of freedom once more. Water Lilies is the film that brought Sciamma into the spotlight, both in France and across the world. The film’s protagonist, Marie, finds herself falling for her local synchronized swimming team captain, Floriane. She hopes to join the team and, in doing so, aims to become closer to Floriane. Sciamma became intrigued by synchronized swimming at a young age so her decision to make this her first film comes from her fascination in her teen years. She said of synchronized swimmers: “On the surface, they have to pretend that they don’t suffer, whereas underneath they struggle painfully. It reveals a lot about the job of being a girl.”
Despite Marie’s loneliness and longing to be with Floriane, Floriane herself is stuck with expectations as both a swimmer and as a woman. Marie and Floriane’s interests clash often throughout the film as Floriane is desperate to conform to gender expectations while Marie attempts to break out of her shell by exploring them. While this is Sciamma’s only film without an adult presence, the characters are well into their teen years and understand the roles set out for them. Sciamma wanted to emphasize the “crude reality” of what it is to be a girl and wanted the audience to “identify with a fifteen year old girl”. Perhaps the scene that best emphasizes the difficulty of being a girl is about twenty minutes into the film. It takes place in the locker room after one of the synchronized swimming practices. Floriane sits eating a banana as girls change in the background, her expression dazed until a fellow swimmer calls her attention. The exchange becomes heated as the other girl implies Floriane has been sleeping with too many guys. Floriane’s medium close up is crowded with girls in the background, the static shot capturing both her expression as well as how the other swimmers are whispering to each other in the background. Even the act of eating a banana becomes taboo in Sciamma’s film, young teens already enforcing the gender roles that came before them and waves of feminism clashing. “Boys are all eyes when a girl eats a banana,” the swimmer says, her eyes and many others on Floriane (including Marie). Floriane feels pressured by the conversation and the frame highlights the judgement of her as two girls whisper behind her, she defends herself with the line “I love it”. Sciamma then cuts to a close up of Floriane, now blocking the swimmers behind her in frame. Floriane may have fought off ‘society’s’ judgement (taking form in the other swimmers), but a quick pan over to Marie sitting alone implies a different level of hurt. Floriane is constantly battling with her gendered expectations throughout the film. Her erotic reputation sets Marie up for loveless failure as the film finds Floriane asking Marie to break her hymen before she has sex with her boyfriend. By the end of the film, Marie can no longer take the heartbreak Floriane gives her nor the restrictions she faces, so she leaves Floriane alone. Floriane is caged by what is expected of her while it is enforced by the other swimmers on her team as well as her boyfriend. Sciamma further delves into the idea of gendered restrictions and adult conflict in her next feature, Tomboy. Tomboy Sciamma’s second feature, Tomboy, follows Laure, a ten year old tomboy who has just move to a new neighborhood with her pregnant mother, hardworking father and little sister. On her first day in the new neighborhood, she meets a girl named Lisa who mistakes her for a boy. Laure chooses not to correct Lisa and masquerades as a boy named Mickäel, identity quickly becoming a balancing act. In this film, Sciamma heavily explores the connotations of gender as well as the clash between second wave feminism (the mother) and third wave (Laure). Of Tomboy, Celine Sciamma explains her intentions with the film: "It's not about 'why is she doing this?' - it's about 'how is she doing this?' That way it's open to a wider audience. Some people might think it's the start of a radical journey to identity, and others that it's just something that happened that summer and won't happen again. It's a particular story, but at the same time it's about childhood and how as a child you're always pretending and role-playing. I love exploring this question of identity."
Going into film distribution, she already knew the varying ways the audience could interpret the film as well as the discussion it would bring up about identity.
There are a number of scenes in the film that could be broken down to look at gender politics but I specifically want to look at Laure’s interactions with her mother, her little sister and her friend, Lisa. Lisa is the first to mistake Laure as a boy, instigating the separation of identities. Laure’s mother falls into second wave feminism, she supports Laure’s tomboy attitude but brightens whenever she wears makeup or, later, forces her to wear a dress. On the other hand, Laure’s little sister, Jeanne, may question Laure’s decisions but ultimately, in her childlike innocence, supports her sister and does her best to keep the secret. Lisa falls between the two, open to letting Laure express herself but, at the end of the film, takes time to accept Laure’s ‘true’
identity. There are several scenes throughout Tomboy that show the clash of childhood innocence and the controlling adult world around them. Scenes with Lisa and Jeanne are more relaxed and upbeat, Laure is most free in these scenarios to be whoever she wants. The children in the film are catalysts for free self-expression, which, according to Sciamma, becomes “like a game”. Tomboy, out of all her work, has the most “energy” and has a great “joy in role-playing” which is reflected in the youth of the cast. One particular scene starts with Lisa inviting Mickäel over to hang out, leading to dancing together and putting on makeup. The dancing, however, is most vital to the expression of these two children. Sciamma films this sequence in a jarring manner, camera following Mickäel around as the two dance together. The editing of the moment is spontaneous as well, cuts becoming jump cuts as Mickäel begins to enjoy the fun and actively participate. Many of the moments between the kids of the neighborhood work in a similar sequence, allowing the audience to experience this childlike freedom again, minds working quicker and freer than ever before. Even the concept of putting makeup on a supposed boy is fun for the kids but, at the same time, immediately restricting in the mind of an adult. When Laure’s mother finds her wearing makeup, she applauds the look and begins to impose stereotypes onto her daughter. Even as free as the children are, there are scenes in which Sciamma explores how deeply rooted gender conventions are. Telling moments between Laure and Jeanne investigate how early boys and girls are separated into different categories.