The Water (2022 film)

The Water (Spanish: El agua) is a 2022 internationally co-produced drama film with magic realism elements directed by Elena López Riera in her directorial debut feature which stars Luna Pamies, Bárbara Lennie and Nieve de Medina. It is a joint Swiss-Spanish-French production.

The Water
Film poster
SpanishEl agua
Directed byElena López Riera
Written by
  • Elena López Riera
  • Philippe Azoury
Starring
CinematographyGiuseppe Truppi
Edited byRaphaël Lefèvre
Music byMandine Knoepfel
Production
companies
  • Alina Film
  • Suica Films
  • Les Films du Worso
Distributed byElastica/Filmin (es)
Release dates
  • 20 May 2022 (2022-05-20) (Cannes)
  • 4 November 2022 (2022-11-04) (Spain)
Countries
  • Switzerland
  • Spain
  • France
LanguageSpanish

Plot

Set in southeastern Spain, with the backdrop of a local superstition concerning women being predestined to drown in river floods, the plot follows Ana, who lives with her mother and her grandmother,[1] while the storm is coming.[2]

Cast

Production

The screenplay was penned by Elena López Riera alongside Philippe Azoury.[5] A Swiss-Spanish-French co-production, the film was produced by Alina Film, Suica Films and Les Films du Worso with support from Institut Valencià de Cultura, ICAA, Creative Europe's MEDIA, and participation of RTVE and À Punt Mèdia.[6][7] Shooting took place in Orihuela and other locations across the province of Alicante from April to May 2021.[8] Giuseppe Truppi took over the cinematography whereas Raphaël Lefèvre did so with the film editing.[9]

Release

The film had its world premiere on 20 May 2022 at the Directors' Fortnight parallel section of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.[10][2] It was set to have its North-American premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the 'Contemporary World Cinema' film slate.[11]

Filmin and Elastica scooped the distribution rights for Spain,[6] where the film was scheduled to be theatrically released on 28 October 2022.[12] It eventually opened in Spanish theatres on 4 November 2022.[13]

Reception

On the American review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, The Water has a 100% approval rating based on 15 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10.[14]

Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily deemed the film to be a "daring, multi-layered debut feature", also writing that "[The Water is] a film which always feels carefully poised on the edge of the surreal, where dark things always seem to be pressing in".[4]

Manu Yáñez of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, extolling the "audacity" of Elena López Riera at handling and intermingling the elements of the film.[15]

Elsa Fernández-Santos of El País deemed the "suggestive" debut feature to be "a film where the arcane becomes visible in a subtle and interior way".[16]

Top ten lists

The film appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best Spanish films of 2022:

Accolades
Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
202227th Toulouse Spanish Film FestivalGolden VioletWon[23]
5th Berlanga AwardsBest FilmNominated[24][25]
Best DirectorElena López RieraNominated
Best ScreenplayElena López RieraNominated
Best ActressLuna PamiesWon
Best Supporting ActressLidia María CánovasNominated
Best Supporting ActorPascual ValeroWon
16th Lisbon & Sintra Film FestivalSpecial Jury Prize (New Film)Won[26]
2023 10th Feroz AwardsArrebato Award (Fiction)Nominated[27]
78th CEC MedalsBest New DirectorElena López RieraNominated[28][29]
Best Supporting ActressBárbara LennieNominated
37th Goya Awards Best New DirectorElena López Riera Nominated [30]
Best New ActressLuna PamiesNominated

See also

References
  1. Correa, Guillermo (20 April 2022). "'El agua', de Elena López Riera, competirá en la Quincena de realizadores de Cannes". El Cultural – via El Español.
  2. Mullor, Mireia (19 April 2022). "Elena López Riera competirá en el Festival de Cannes con 'El agua'". Fotogramas.
  3. "El agua". Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  4. Holland, Jonathan (20 May 2022). "'El Agua': Cannes Review". ScreenDaily.
  5. Partearroyo, Daniel de (19 April 2022). "'El agua', la película de Elena López Riera que participa en la Quincena de Realizadores de Cannes". Cinemanía – via 20minutos.es.
  6. "Cine 'El agua', de Elena López Riera, competirá en la Quincena de realizadores del Festival de Cannes". rtve.es. 19 April 2022.
  7. Cabeza, Elisabet (27 July 2021). "Spain Stars of Tomorrow: Elena López Riera (writer-director)". ScreenDaily.
  8. Prado, África (19 April 202). "Elena López Riera competirá con 'El agua' en la Quincena de Realizadores del Festival de Cannes". Levante-EMV.
  9. "Just Spainted. Winter/Spring 2022. New Spanish Films" (PDF). ICAA. p. 127. Retrieved 21 April 2022 – via Audiovisual451.
  10. "Elena López Riera debuta en Cannes: "El misticismo es parte de mi educación"". La Vanguardia. 20 May 2022.
  11. Kay, Jeremy (17 August 2022). "Toronto unveils 2022 TIFF Docs, Contemporary World Cinema line-ups". ScreenDaily.
  12. Belinchón, Gregorio (27 August 2022). "El otoño del cine en España navega a favor de la corriente". El País.
  13. Montfort, Carla (4 February 2023). "Es una hipnótica ópera prima aunque pasó desapercibida en cines: por fin está en streaming una de las más especiales candidatas a los Premios Goya". Espinof.
  14. "The Water". RottenTomatoes. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  15. Yáñez, Manu (23 May 2022). "Crítica de 'El agua': la propuesta fluvial de Elena López Riera en Cannes". Fotogramas.
  16. Fernández-Santos, Elsa (21 May 2022). "'El agua', un sugerente debut sobre mujeres y mitos de la española Elena López Riera cautiva en Cannes". El País.
  17. Martínez, Luis (18 December 2022). "Las 10 mejores películas españolas de 2022". El Mundo.
  18. "Cine: las votaciones de nuestros críticos 2022". El Cultural. 20 December 2022 – via El Confidencial.
  19. "Las 10 mejores películas españolas de un 2022 para la historia". El Periódico de Catalunya. 19 December 2022.
  20. Medina, Marta (15 December 2022). "Las 10 mejores películas españolas de 2022: el año más bestia del siglo XXI". El Confidencial.
  21. Rodríguez Marchante, Oti (27 December 2022). "Las diez mejores películas españolas de 2022, un año de cine sobresaliente". ABC.
  22. Blanes, P; Romero, J.; Castro, E. (23 December 2022). "Las 10 mejores películas españolas de 2022 en un año espectacular para nuestro cine". Cadena SER.
  23. "Cinespaña 2022 : " El agua " Violette d'Or". La Dépêche du Midi. 15 October 2022.
  24. Camacho, Noelia (19 October 2022). "Estos son los nominados a los Premios Berlanga del audiovisual valenciano". Las Provincias.
  25. Garcés, Laura (13 November 2022). "Estos son los ganadores de los Premios Berlanga del audiovisual valenciano". Las Provincias. Grupo Vocento.
  26. "Poeta ganha prémio de melhor filme no festival LEFFEST". Público. 20 November 2022.
  27. "Premios Feroz 2023 | Palmarés completo: empatan 'As bestas' y 'Cinco lobitos' en cine y 'La ruta' y 'No me gusta conducir' en series". Cinemanía. 29 January 2023 – via 20minutos.es.
  28. "'As bestas' y 'Cinco lobitos', las más nominadas a las Medallas CEC". Cine con Ñ. 15 December 2022.
  29. ""As bestas", con siete premios, gran triunfadora de las Medallas CEC 2023". Cadena COPE. 7 February 2023.
  30. "'As Bestas', ganadora en los Goya 2023, con 9 premios: lista completa de películas premiadas". rtve.es. 12 February 2023.
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