Water Drops on Burning Rocks

Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes

France, Japan, 2000

Comedy, Drama, LGBT+

Synopsis

Leopold, a smug, still-hunky 50-year-old businessman, picks up and seduces fresh-faced 19-year-old Franz, who swiftly moves into his bachelor pad. The fluctuating balance of power between them intensifies with the arrival of the men’s ex-girlfriends.

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Water Drops on Burning Rocks Directed by François Ozon

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Awards & Festivals

Berlin International Film Festival

2000 | Winner: Teddy: Best Feature Film

São Paulo International Film Festival

2000

César Awards

2001 | Nominee: Most Promising Actor

Edinburgh International Film Festival

2000

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Cast & Crew

Critics reviews

The result is quite an achievement, a startling homage that reflects Ozon’s preoccupation with the black humour of potentially menacing power games, visible in his chilling 1997 film Regarde la mer, as it does Fassbinder’s conviction that, in the words of one of his film’s titles, love is colder than death.

Richard Falcon

October 01, 2000

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Mr. Ozon enlivens this studied realism with moments of inspired theatricality.

A. O. Scott

July 12, 2000

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A movie of cutting humor, near-constant talk, and one show-stopping dance routine.

J. Hoberman

July 12, 2000

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What are people saying?

Maribou's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Maribou

A blast of Fassbinder's ice-cold misanthropy blows through this tale of assymetric desire and exploitation. Deftly transformed by François Ozon into a delightfully arch, well-paced, stylised little gem of a farce. My black heart loved it.
December 07, 2019 15:10
- 14
- 0
Wee Hunk's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Wee Hunk

Very sexy. Giradeau is quite believable as the ultimate seducer and abandoner. You can tell it was written by Fassbinder because it understands the power games people play.
December 11, 2019 01:31
- 10
- 0
Jeremiah Johnson's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Jeremiah Johnson

Leopold is the ultimate alpha male - enjoyed the character and how strange the story is.
October 22, 2019 22:54
- 3
- 0
Sneerwell's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Sneerwell

That is a real Ozon, with sex, rosy-cheeked youth, gay theme and queer songs. Dazzling.
November 20, 2019 16:32
- 8
- 1
Michael H. CLAES's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Michael H. CLAES

Construit comme une pièce de théâtre ce film donne à ZIDI & GIRAUDEAU un champ de déploiement de leur immense talent. OZON ironique, et distancié de son sujet, proche de la nouvelle "Mygale" de JONQUET, quelle élégance! === Built as a play this film gives ZIDI & GIRAUDEAU a field of deployment of their immense talent. OZON ironic and distanced from his subject, close to JONQUET's short story "Mygale" , what elegance!
October 21, 2019 18:10
- 2
- 0
ig_____or's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
ig_____or

The film tries to be edgy, sexy, cheeky... but it is none of those things. Despite some beautiful colours and pitch-perfect portrait poses, I was bored for most of the time due to 4 silly characters that were just acting out like fools. The role of Léopold was completely miscast, the actor gave me zero daddy feels. I'm an Ozon fan, but for me this was a flop.
December 09, 2019 00:49
- 5
- 0
Rafael Zen's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Rafael Zen

It's always delightful to watch Ozon's characters living on screen - although these are actually Fassbinder's. I pretty much love the casting choices - those four are so yummy to watch: it's like wathcing the pain of love and commitment through four beautiful creatures: that being said, this film lacks alittle depth to me.
November 15, 2019 00:26
- 3
- 0
T. J. Harman's rating of the film Water Drops on Burning Rocks
T. J. Harman

not sayin' it's the best movie ever but I dug it. The melding of Ozon and Fassbinder occassionally mutates into a Betrand Blier film and I mean that as a compliment. I wanna live in the heartbreaking logic of the world of this film.
October 22, 2019 19:58
- 4
- 0