An impressive debut from Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe who sadly seems to have moved from this directly into TV. Perhaps this was a little too ambitious, a little too weird. Not over long and very well paced, this begins as if it were to be a poetic tale involving one man and his private thoughts and to a large extent it is. But, these thoughts take on visual form and his hopes and desires take him closer to his reality or further into fantasy. It is never quite clear. The film is full of ambiguities but the beautiful shots and quite splendid soundtrack mean that this is a mesmerising movie. Often reminding one of early horror movies in the way the main character moves up and down stairs and through doors this has an enigmatic hold from start to finish. Creepy too, for, forget not, he lets out his large collection of butterflies to concentrate his attentions on his water spider.
Review of L'araignée d'eau
