Underplayed Gems

A Story of Water (1958)

A Story of Water poster
Original title
Une histoire d'eau
Directed by
François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard
Genre
comedy, romance
Country
France
Runtime
18 min
Rating
6.5 of 10 from 60 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A young woman tries to travel to Paris but floodwaters block her journey. The film follows her adventure with odd voiceovers and percussive music that make the story feel silly rather than romantic.

lightquirkywhimsicalabsurdistplayfulslightly absurdfast-pacedunpredictable

What happens

A Story of Water (French: Une histoire d'eau) is a short film directed and written by Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut and released in 1961. It recounts the story of a woman's trip to Paris, which is surrounded by a large flooded area. It was first shown publicly in 1961. The title is a pun on the title of the erotic novel Une histoire d'O. The film was shot in two days. The film is dedicated to Mack Sennett. According to film critic David Edelstein, introducing the film's presentation on TCM.com, Truffaut's screenplay was a "slight but reasonably coherent romance" which was altered significantly in the editing room by Godard, who added absurdist voiceovers and percussion music while cutting out most of the plot. The film is included as a supplement on Criterion's DVD/Blu-ray release of Truffaut's The Last Metro. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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