kenjha Two French girlfriends await their annual get-together at the start of summer vacation. The film is constructed in three parts. It starts with the story of Gwen, a flirtatious and perky blonde. The focus then shifts to Lise, a dark-haired and depressed teen who has just lost her father. The two friends come together in the final part. It's not clear what the point of this movie is. There isn't much of a plot. As the two girls undergo mostly mundane experiences, it makes for rather uninteresting viewing. Something out of the ordinary does happen towards the end, but it is so bizarre that it seems to have been added just to have a big finish.

noralee "Girls Can't Swim (Les filles ne savent pas nager)" gets a lot right about teens, in a debut by writer/director Anne-Sophie Birot: The endless summer feeling of life Down the Shore (only here the Shore is at Brittany so there's no Bruce Springsteen music, let alone any beach music). The implied class tensions between townies and seasonals. The restless rebellion of adolescence, particularly as bursting sensuality.The casual back-and-forth between parents and teens as the kids alternate between neediness and independence, complicated by the parents' own financial and relationship problems.And most particularly the exaggerated passions of teen girl friendship. But the aimlessness of summer vacation is mimicked too much in the pacing, with an abrupt culmination that's not fair to the characters. I must have missed the explanation for the title. Clearly Eric Rohmer's "Pauline on the Beach" has haunted today's French women filmmakers as this is the second such movie I've seen in a year that feels like an angry response to that sage putting a teen girl amidst adult sharks, after "Fat Girl (a ma soeur)."(originally written 5/11/2002)

Brian Being a long-time viewer of French cinema, I had no problems with the pacing or style of this film. In fact, that's why I like European film in general, for a break from the predictability of Hollywood/American cinema.Actually, I didn't think the pace of this film was particularly slow. "Gwen" seemed constantly on the move, one crisis quickly followed another in her family.Both girls, as perhaps most people, seemed to have positive natures, but life was dealing them some hard blows, and neither had the tools to overcome the difficulties being dealt them.Both needed affection and love, but were going about getting in unhealthy ways. They seemed to be searching for affection almost blindly, or instinctually, to me.I felt empathy for both characters; and as for the comment that "the lead needs to be better looking," I disagree. I thought both were very attractive in their own way.

rlcsljo Was this supposed to be the french "Marny". I don't know, I just know that the lead girl was pretty boring. When her girlfriend finally showed up, it was too late to save the film.I never could figure out where anyone was coming from, except the father and he was portrayed as being unsympathetic.The mother needed a bigger role, as the director found out too late.