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

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.

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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 Mullor, Mireia (19 April 2022). "Elena López Riera competirá en el Festival de Cannes con 'El agua'". Fotogramas.
  3. 1 2 "El agua". Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 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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